What do you want from me?
by ChinaWolf
Summary: Alec wants to be with Magnus forever, and needs to become immortal to do so. But Magnus isn't so keen on the idea... Rated M for lemons.
1. There Are Ways

**Okay, this is my first ever fanfic, so I hope you like it, and please review *puppy eyes* and tell me what you think! Also, I majorly ship Alec and Magnus so this won't be all doom and gloom!**

**I don't own the Mortal Instruments, if I did it would all be Malec! Also, Luke would get more credit.**

Camille's movements were fluid in the darkness, and the moonlight reflected off her silvery hair. Magnus had called her beautiful. Alec couldn't see it; she wasn't unattractive, he supposed, but her dead-white skin was cold to the eyes and the touch, like a corpse's flesh, the way she moved unnatural, and her huge hypnotic eyes unnerved him.

Alec had never been one to hate, but he could not like her.

"Camille!" he called, his voice echoing emptily into the night. He needed her. She slowed and turned slightly, not looking at him, but seeming to acknowledge his presence.

"Alexander." Alec mopped the loose black hair from his eyes, wishing that he wasn't so clueless, that he could be confident like Izzy or Jace.

"Just... call me Alec." The vampire turned fully, and struck him with her heavy gaze. Alec squirmed, as though in a spotlight, and wished that his life could be simple for once. "What do you want from me?" Camille shifted a little, not betraying any emotion but as if she were surprised by the question.

"Oh Alec, you're no fun to play with." He opened his mouth to say 'So don't', but suddenly Camille's cool fingers pressed against his lips. It was startling how fast she could move, but more so was her touch, so intimate, so strangely familiar; it was something Magnus did to him all the time, but his fingers were warm, and the yellow-green eyes behind them regarded him playfully, fondly, nothing like Camille's. Her stare was calculating, curious, and a hint of something else. Alec felt like a microbe pinned to a slide under the lens of a microscope as some unseen eye scrutinised his every pore.

"It is not a question of what I want from you, Shadowhunter, rather what you want from me." Her fingers withdrew from his lips, trailing down his cheek to follow the curve of his throat. It felt as though at any moment she would spring into action, slash for his jugular. But she wouldn't. One, the Clave would stake her out to burn for slaughtering one of their own, and two, he was worth too much to her. The power Camille held over him was like an owner dangling meat in front of a slavering dog, he was her tool to do with what she liked, to manipulate others accordingly, and she knew it.

"My, you are beautiful," she murmured, brushing the hair back from Alec's forehead, the other hand lingering where the pulse beat in his throat. "So like William, and yet- so different." A rush of anger flared up in Alec and he twisted away, bitterly.

"Magnus won't tell me about him. Not anything. But he has told me about you." Camille appeared unruffled, amused even; she knew exactly how to play with her little toy. "He told me how you use people. Manipulate them, twist the truth to your own advantage. He told me you did that to him, and made sure he could never love you again."

At this, Camille's fangs slid from between her lips.

"Is that what he said? I am immortal, Shadowhunter, I understand him more than you can imagine. He may not think of me now, now he has acquired his new pretty little amusement; for that is what you are, Alec, but he will. Mortal emotions are like mere flames, they sputter and die, but Magnus and I- we love in a way that no human could ever fathom. We do not have need of each other constantly, for we have eternity, and we endure whatever we must, for our feelings cannot simply be forgotten. We can have each other forever."

Alec's heart felt as though it had been dumped into a cold, stinking pond. It was true. Magnus would have Camille long after he himself was dead.

"You know I would give you whatever you wanted, if there was a way-"

She nodded, almost sympathetically, blonde hair playing delicately about her pale face. She knew it.

"There are ways, but" she paused, with an expressive shrug. "Magnus doesn't want it. You know that." The vampire's lips were inches away from Alec's cheek, close enough to taste the tears he couldn't hold back, though he was trying, with a sinuous flick of tongue. She inhaled, purely to experience his scent- he supposed, as vampires didn't breathe- and Alec tried to wriggle away but she clamped his wrist in an icy grip.

"You might think that I hate you, Alec. That I say these things to hurt you, but it is not so. There is no malice, no desire to hurt in you- and you are beautiful. You may have noticed I have a weakness for beautiful things, Magnus and I both. I care for him. That is the reason behind these harsh truths that I speak. You may also think that I wish to steal him from you, out of jealousy or loneliness, but it isn't the case. I have no need to be jealous, Magnus will always have me, after you die, or he realizes that what you have together can bring only harm."

A terrible coldness, like that of Camille's unbeating heart, began to creep through Alec's veins. It was all true, all of it; maybe Camille was a manipulator, but not out of spite. His silence didn't seem to bother her, in fact the hand that had clutched his wrist now gently circled his shoulder, a gesture of comfort to soften the pain of her words.

"I even like you, and I am truly sorry when I say that I hope you die young. While you are still energetic and lovely, before age marrs Magnus's memory of you. Because the longer you live, the happier you make him, will make it more painful when he loses you. You want him to say that you are the only one he will ever love, but as long as that is true you cannot really love him. Don't you see?"

The ice was now in Alec's heart, his bones, the backs of his aching eyelids. He had never thought that way, never realized how selfish he was being in letting Magnus love him, or the sacrifice Magnus had made to do it. Camille was right; if he truly loved Magnus, which of course he did, he couldn't let him live an eternity of pain and loneliness.

"My advice, Alec, is to find someone else while you are still young, and lovely. It will hurt, as the first love is always the hardest, but there is always another out there and they can make you happy. Even if you were immortal, you would not be indestructible, and the pain of losing you then would be even greater. In the end, that's real love, isn't it?"

Camille's deep, sea-green eyes gazed softly, imploringly. She just wanted what was best, for both of them.

"Doing all in your power to make that person happy, no matter what?"

Alec collapsed into her cool, soothing embrace, no longer trying to bite back the burning tears, sobbing into the woman's hair. If only he had realized the truth sooner. It was Jace all over again, falling in love with the wrong person. Not that he had really loved Jace. At least, this time, he would have his family, his parabatai, for support. Surely it would be all right?

**Things will get happy soon, I promise! I might even slip in some lemons...not that I really know how to write them. Being a lesbian, cocks aren't really my area of expertise, so advice is welcome! And you know you want to click that review button. Love, China. xxx**


	2. On the Kitchen Counter

**I can't keep Alec sad for long…or I get sad! (He is my absolute favourite character, JUST above Magnus!) So here's something a little happier. A bit fluffy, I know, but personally I like fluff. **

Earlier that day

Alec Lightwood exhaled slowly, causing a stray lock of Magnus's hair to dance upward. He couldn't help smiling; he loved Magnus too much to put into words, and, by some brilliant miracle, Magnus loved him too. It had all happened so fast, he sometimes felt the urge to poke either Magnus or himself to check if it was real.

If he'd told himself a few months ago that right now he'd be sitting on a kitchen counter at one in the afternoon, having mislaid all his clothes and kissing the High Warlock of Brooklyn, he'd have laughed in his own face. But it was true.

He wound a long, pale finger into Magnus's hair, causing a small glitter avalanche, and felt a palm stroke along his collar bone as if to smooth it down, when a loud buzzing rent the air- the door. Magnus rolled his feline eyes, smiling an apology, and Alec leant further across him to the intercom.

"The High Warlock is _very_ busy right now," Alec purred, mopping the hair out of his burning blue eyes. Laughing softly, he bent to kiss Magnus's neck, but the warlock was frozen, a mask of horror on his flushed golden face.

"Oh…Alec," he breathed, and swore in a language like flames licking over dry wood.

"What?" he asked. "You normally love it when I do that." Magnus had paled.

"At the door..." Alec had never seen him lost for words before. "It's your mother."

There was a heavy, silent pause, as Magnus, Alec and Maryse all flailed for their collective composure. Then there was a crackly cough from the intercom.

"Alexander. I was under the impression that you were training with Jace." Alec felt as though a large brick had lodged in his oesophagus, yet somehow he managed to choke out the words

"Hi, Mum, why don't you come up?"

Magnus shot him a look, untangled his limbs from Alec's and slid fluidly into his most presentable turquoise tank top and black skinny jeans. With a finger snap his rumpled glittery hair was immaculate, as was the apartment. Inwardly, Alec cursed his being a clumsy shadowhunter as opposed to an elegant warlock- only his rune for perfect balance prevented him from toppling into a two-man high CD stack as he stumbled gracelessly into some jeans and a black wool jumper that was unravelling at the elbow.

As Maryse's boots clacked outside, Magnus shot him an electric grin.

"One day, we will laugh at this." He smoothed his hair thoughtfully. "I know I will, anyway." He added, and with a wink, Alec felt a tendril of magic do up the zipper on his jeans.

A smile spilled across his face, impossible to hold back, only to be wiped off like crumbs from a smeary toddler as his mother stepped into the room. Her eyes raked them both: the tall, manic warlock leant against the fridge and the pale, uncomfortable boy chewing on his bottom lip.

"Hello, Alec, Magnus." she said stiffly. "I have an order from the Conclave to bring you to the Institute." A stranger wouldn't have noticed Magnus's surprise, but Alec saw the slight shift of his gaze, a tiny change in the curve of his back.

"A summoning?"

Maryse nodded minutely.

"Just a few formal questions, I think." Her features softened "But you can stay for dinner, if you like. I'm making a vegetable jalfrezi." Alec grinned crookedly, visibly brightening.

"My Mum's curries are awesome." He tugged at the trailing end of wool dangling from his sleeve, not looking at either of them, so he missed Maryse relax further, her furrowed brow smoothing out, and the fond twinkle in Magnus's eyes as he supressed a smile.

"Sounds great." He said, and Alec edged closer, longing to be near him like a plant stretching towards sunlight. By the Angel, he loved him.

**This was a bit short **** but there is more to come! ****If you hadn't noticed, I am British, so if some words ****are weird or spelt differently, it's probably just the English version- it confuses me a lot on this site because of the American-ness, especially the dates! Are they backwards? But don't worry American readers, I still love you lots. Especially if**** you review. Love, China. xxxx**


	3. I'm no Twink

**Hey! This was a bitch to write, but I hope it's worth it :L I kept getting distracted by City of Lost Souls; it has a sort of magnetic pull…even when I shoved it in the freezer for upsetting me- I swear Cassandra Clare thinks of her readers as chew toys. If we were cybermen it would be the binary nine situation all over again. Screaming mass death as our emotions overwhelm us.**

The day had started so well.

When the tears had dried on his face, Camille drew back wordlessly and seemed to dissolve into the night; one minute Alec could see the hair, bleached silver by the moonlight, rippling down her back, and the next she had melted into the shadows like butter spread onto hot toast. Only colder. Much colder.

Although Camille was gone, her words still hung about him like cobwebs clinging to a stack of old books. _"The happier you make him, will make it more painful when he loses you. You want him to say that you are the only one he will ever love, but as long as that is true you cannot really love him."_

She was right, Alec realized now, their relationship only hurt people. Himself and Magnus most of all.

The Institute towered over him, the only home he could remember, the people he loved were inside, yet outside, with tiny drops of moisture just starting to prickle his skin, Alec felt so separate from them. So alone. And not in his usual, over-dramatic way either. Why, why couldn't he just enjoy himself for once?

Over the sounds of the city, a soft, slooshy pattering signalled rain sweeping in from the river; light droplets beaded on Alec's eyelashes and dribbled down his face like cold tears, but still he stood, soundless, motionless, staring at the echoing dark where Camille had been.

"Alec?"

Alec jumped, startled, and inwardly cursed. He was a _shadowhunter, _Raziel's sake. Rainwater was streaming over him now, smelling of purity and chemicals at the same time.

"Alexander, what in hell are you doing?" Magnus was leaning in the Institute's doorway, backlit so that his face was all shadows, his lean body arched and feline, regarding his boyfriend with a mixture of amusement and concern. "I knew you weren't _'getting something'_. And so did Jace and Izzy."

"Magnus." Alec took a step towards him, not immune to that delicious magnetic pull even now, the one that made him want to _always_ be closer, regardless of how close, or how angry they were.

"I should be angry at you for not letting me in, again, but I guess I'm used to it. That, and the fact that you look _ridiculously_ sexy right now." He grinned, and stepped out into the rain, his gold-tinged eyes laced with worry.

"Magnus, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" The warlock folded him into a wet hug, the heat of his body burning through their clothes and igniting a spark in Alec's chest. A long, green-nailed finger caressed his lips.

"I know, baby. Was it me? Talking all careless to your mother? Because that's not-"

"Magnus!" Alec was shocked, and he fixed him with a wild, blue-eyed stare. "How could you think that? I had a great time tonight, honestly." His eyes and voice lowered. "It was Camille." Magnus froze and spun away from Alec, sparks frazzling from his fingertips, evaporating clusters of rain where they collided.

"Camille…" he hissed, a surprisingly vicious sound that reminded Alec of his lover's demon heritage. "Alexander, whatever she told you, whatever she made you think, she's just using you. Like she uses everybody. Camille lives to manipulate, playing on your deepest, fiercest hopes and fears, and however thickly she veils it, she is being cruel." Alec remembered her wide, imploring eyes, her soft, pleading voice, stuffed full of imperative words. Had she been conning him?

Water licked along Magnus's legs, and he didn't seem to care that his boots- the new season Jimmy Choo, he had confided earlier- were getting soaked, glitter pooling in the puddle at his feet.

"But Magnus, she was right. Our relationship hurts everyone- especially us! I can't live like this, knowing that every second I spend with you will hurt you more, in the future. That there is no way we can spend our lives together. The happier we are, the sadder you'll be when I'm gone, and don't give me all that 'live in the moment' crap, because I can't do that to you, and if that's all you're prepared for then I'm ending it, right now, before any more damage is done!"

The colour had drained slowly from Magnus's face all the while Alec was talking, his eyes were that of someone who had seen lifetimes of suffering and been unable to stop it, and his lips trembled slightly. He didn't speak. Alec ran, out of the courtyard and down the street, before he could change his mind.

Magnus snatched him up before he could turn the corner, clutching Alec to his chest, and Alec could feel their hearts pounding as one.

"I didn't mean that…or maybe I did," Alec mused. He had been sure that breaking up would be the best thing, but now- now he could feel Magnus's body, searing hot despite their drenched state, could smell his dark, spicy scent and see the wide, gold-green eyes that searched his own face in desperation, rivulets of glittery make-up in streaks right down to his chin.

"It isn't our relationship that's hurting us, Alec. It's this…obsession with immortality that you have."

"It's not immortality that I want, Magnus. It's you."

"But you have me."

"No, I don't! Every one of my breaths is closer to my last, but before then…you look nineteen. When I'm in my twenties I'll look too old for you, but when I'm old old…I'll look like a paedophile, Magnus! I won't be fun anymore, I'll need- something different…"

Magnus looked down, only a hint of green visible through his thick water-spiked black lashes. He looked so sad…but Alec was sick of being sad. He wanted to stop hiding, to make Magnus really see that he didn't care about eternal life, only him.

"All I want is you. And you know," a feeble smile tugged the corner of Alec's lips "You'll look like my twink." Magnus's head snapped up, and he poked Alec in the ribs.

"I'm no twink! I'm far too old, Alexander! But- seriously, when you're staring immortality in the face, you see the truth. It isn't a gift. It's a curse. Ask Simon. Your real life fades, family, friends, lovers- but your feelings too. You know, I can't remember my mothers' face. Can't remember what it felt like to love her-maternal love…I have no recollection of it. Or the joy of kicking a pile of fallen leaves; I used to love that. Until I was maybe… two hundred, give or take. I just didn't see the point any more. And if I make you immortal, what is your life then? When your family are dead, when you move away from New York, when you don't remember _your_ mother, who are you then? You're not Alec Lightwood. Not anymore. You're a stranger with his face."

Alec stroked his pale, calloused thumbs over Magnus's face, letting them trail along the sharp caramel curve of his cheekbones.

"I am Alec Lightwood with you, Magnus, more than I've ever been."

He smiled, a sad sort of smile, sliding his fingers over Alec's hips.

"Your life is so beautiful. Who am I to end it? Keep on living for a while, Alexander. But I promise I'll think about it."

Their lips met, soaked and cold, but sweet.

"Take me home, Magnus."

**Not sure about this chapter, there was so much I wanted to include…hopefully it's okay though. More coming soon, and what happens next depends on our reviews… Love China xxx**


	4. Magnus is no Lady

**Hello there! This chapter is for my lovely parabatai (yes we're cool) Zoe, who makes my day most days. But what else makes my day, I hear you cry? Your reviews. Thank you to everyone ****who has done so **

Magnus scooped him up and cuddled him to his sopping wet chest. Alec looked up at him, eyes burning blue through tendrils of black hair, pasted to his pale face like papier mache by the sheeting rain. His cheeks and the tip of his nose were flushed a delicate pink, and he looked blissfully tired.

"I love you, Magnus."

"I love you too. And remember, Camille's like Regina. She's a life ruiner. She ruins people's lives!" He cackled, the laughter vibrating into Alec through his arms, throat and chest.

"I don't get it…what?"

Magnus gasped, his eyes wide with horror.

"Do you mean to tell me, Alexander, that you haven't seen Mean Girls?"

"Uh…no."

"We. Are. Watching. It. The. Second. We. Get. Home."

He smiled, and Magnus carried him all the way back to Brooklyn, holding him in his lap even on the subway.

Back at the Institute, Izzy shuffled her deck of cards, cross-legged on the floor of the main living room. Herself, Jace, Alec and Magnus had been settling down for a game of 'Demonhead', when after glancing out the window, Alec had scuttled off, pale as milk, with Magnus not far behind him.

"They're not coming back, are they?" she whined, poking Jace with her toe.

"Nope." He replied, poking her back, "But Magnus left his bag here."

The bag in question was a faded red messenger bag with tinsel for a strap and 'Magnusificent Christmas Extravaganza 1984' picked out in peeling gold glitter. His tawny eyes held a mischevious glint that, on Jace, was both rare and endearing.

"Jace, didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to go through a lady's bag?" Jace snorted.

"Magnus is no lady. Anyway, I'm not suggesting we _steal_ anything, just shove some random stuff in there, fuck with his mind a little. How about the picture of that time Alec fell in the Penhallows' pond?"

Izzy giggled, twining a strand of hair around a long, pale, finger.

"That was so funny! He was all green and slimy when you pulled him out!"

"Don't you want to know what's in there?"

She chewed her lip, light from the fire crackling in her dark eyes, and she suddenly cracked a smile.

"Okay then, but- the Angel only knows what's in there. Whatever it is, I'm blaming you!"

Five minutes later, the contents of his bag were spread across the rug.

Several glittery M.A.C eyeshadows. A cherry chapstick. A phone. A tube of glitter. A magic 8 ball. A cookbook, in what seemed to be Ancient Greek. And a small bottle.

Izzy raised her eyebrows when Jace picked the bottle up, peering confusedly at the label.

"What is- oh. Oh!" He dropped it hastily, realizing it was lube.

**A little short, but hopefully you like it. Please excuse any weiRd typos; my 'y' key has a gold star stuck underneath it so after writing this I had to go back through and purposefully add all the y's. I probably missed some! If you think Alec should become immortal by the end, review! If not…also review! AND IF YOU GOT THE MEAN GIRLS REFERENCE, review! Agreeable?**

**Love China xxxx**


	5. Oh mein Gott Karen

**Once again, reviewers, you make me so happy I feel like grabbing my feather boa –of course I have one- and prancing around to Bohemian Rhapsody! Je t'aime, ma petite choufleurs! (That's 'I love you my little cauliflowers' to any non French speakers) Next chapter, the plot thickens… **

**I do not own the Mortal Instruments or Mean Girls, regrettably nor do I own 'Rock-paper-scissors-lizard-spock', although I was once injured playing it.**

Magnus pouted into Alec's warm neck, wishing he could stay forever. Properly forever.

They had been snuggled in Magnus's bed for hours; with the blackout curtains closed, they couldn't hazard a guess to what time of day it was. Neither did they care. Alec had been so taken with Mean Girls he had persuaded Magnus (though it hadn't taken much) to watch it again, and again, and now they were watching it in German.

"That bit kind of reminds me of when we were in Alicante," Alec mused, sliding his fingers down Magnus's spine.

"What, you ate lunch with the plastics?" Magnus chuckled throatily "Can't you imagine Isabelle lik e'Es tut mir leid, dass die Leute eifersüchtig auf mich sind, aber ich kann nichts dafür, dass ich so beliebt bin!'" **(I'm sorry that people are so jealous of me, but I can't help it that I'm popular)**

Alec tilted back his head, his pale neck arching delectably in the dim light.

"It's _so_ sexy when you speak German! And no, it was something Izzy said when Aline was making Simon really uncomfortable; 'Oh my god Aline, you can't just ask people what it's like being a vampire'!"

Magnus gave a gleeful giggle, lips hot on his collarbone.

"Oh mein Gott Karen, man kann nicht einfach Leute fragen, warum sie weiß sind!"** (Oh my god Karen, you can't just ask people why they're white!)**

Alec moaned. Feeling his knees turn to metaphorical jelly, he threaded his hands roughly in Magnus's hair, teasing a surprised growl from his throat. "You like it when I speak German, Alexander?"

"_Yes!_"

"Dann werde ich dir sagen, was ich dir antun werde, Alexander. Du wirst so heiß sein, dass du darum betteln wirst alles was ich dir gebe zu nehmen. Und so wie es aussieht, wird das auch nicht lange dauern."

The words escaped Magnus's lips in a decadent purr, causing Alec to fling aside the bedcovers and grab him by the hips.

"What does it mean?" he moaned, sliding a leg round his slender waist.

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do to you, Alexander, I'll make you so hot, you'll be begging to take anything I give you." His yellow-green eyes blazed with amusement and power. "And by the looks of it, that won't take long."

Alec felt as though his bones were melting, slowly, into molten goo.

"Mein Deutsch ist nicht mehr so gut, aber anscheinend macht dich alles scharf, also scheiß drauf, willst du eine Geschichtsstunde?"

"By the Angel Magnus!"

"Die Sozialdemokraten übernahmen die Macht nachdem der Kaiser aus dem Land gezwungen war, und Ebert wurde der erste Präsident. Seine Partei gründete die Weimarer Verfassung, oh mein Gott Alec das ist so surreal, du wirst ganz heiß von etwas das ich in einem Londoner Klassenzimmer gelernt habe!"

He was cut off, abruptly, by a phone, buzzing angrily somewhere on the floor. Alec yelled hoarsely "Ignore it!" but as of late, phone calls had tended to be rather important, so Magnus slid reluctantly out of Alec's fuck-me-right-now grip and scrabbled for it, leaving him licking his lips impatiently.

"Hey, man. Two things-"

"Wayland," Magnus growled, vowing to set the stupid child alight for wasting _valuable_ time "I am trying to screw your brother! What are you doing interrupting?"

On the other end of the line, Jace raised an eyebrow and Izzy smirked; meanwhile Alec paled dangerously, shooting a death glare in his boyfriend's direction.

"I don't care if you're trying to screw the entire cast of Eastenders, I want to talk."

Magnus mentally scrutinised the cast in question.

"Ooh, well, there is that pretty masseuse guy. What's his name? Syed? I wouldn't mind getting up on his table and-"

"Earth to High Warlock, I don't give a damn. Izzy's done something to my finger, and we need your help healing it. It looks strange. And you left your bag here."

"Don't you touch the magic 8 ball, it really is magic you know. And hands off my makeup! And my glitter! And- you know what, leave everything alone!"

Alec, hearing only one side of the conversation, wondered what the hell was going on.

"Meanwhile, my finger turns into a cabbage. We're on our way over, Magnus. I need my fingers. They have oft been described as beautiful, golden sticks of pure-"

"Oh, shut up. Wait, is it really turning into a cabbage?"

Alec started, grabbing for the phone, which happened to be his. "What the hell? Why is my parabatai becoming a vegetable?"

"Okay, it's not a cabbage per se. But it looks weiRd. We were playing rock-paper-scissors-lizard-spock and as I said 'Spock!' Izzy said 'Seraph blade!" and now it's gone all-"

"Fine, fine, drag your sorry asses over here. But you'd better bring coffee with you. I'm not at all happy that you interrupted what I was really rather enjoying."

"Later, man."

Magnus clicked Jace off, smirking at Alec's scowl. He looked so ridiculously innocent, yet stupidly sexy in amongst the rumpled yellow sheets, it was like seeing Bambi in a porn tape. Although, Magnus mused, that wouldn't be particularly erotic; baby deer weren't really his thing. Or animals at all in fact, no matter how much Basil Brush's jumpers reminded him of Alec.

**Another short chapter, I'm afraid, but one does not simply whip up a decent chapter when faced with such as obscene amount of Chemistry revision. **

**The first un-translated thing Magnus said was "My German is not good these days, but apparently anything will get you off so fuck it, would you like a history lesson?**

**The second was "The Social Democrats took power after the Kaiser was forced out of the country, and Ebert became the first president. His party founded the Weimar constitution, oh my god Alec this is surreal, you're getting all sexy over what I learned in a London school room!**

**So, the plot will get serious again soon, but PLEASE PLEASE tell me if you want a lemon. And any ideas of what you want included in it would be helpful. **

**Love China xxxxxx**

**P.S. A million thank yous to Maria Hie who fixed my German. Before it probably said:**** 'tiny soybean-sized porcelain badgers slid through the galaxy causing death and destruction via flamethrowers and pancreatic juice' or something equally inaccurate.**


	6. Upitty Angel Spawn

**Hello again****, I'd like to ****thank you for reading. Because it is that sort of day, and it does mean a lot. After CoLS, we need people to be nice…speaking of which, my friend Ellen read page 516 (the break up scene :'( ) at school today, even though we warned her to read it somewhere ****private, and she just lost it. Shaking, crying, throwing the book, what I'm pretty sure 80% of people did, Raziel love her. 3 I hope for the same of humanity they get back together in CoHF.**

Camille was bored. Where was Alec Lightwood? She was so _sure_ that he would come to her, especially after their little encounter outside the Institute. She had seen him doubt, crack, shatter before her eyes, and had loved every succulent second. Why hadn't he come to her?

Her private chambers- near the disused subway station- were dim, except for the trickle of sunlight that pooled just under a boarded-up fissure in the ceiling. She could have covered it up. After all, it could be painful if she walked through it accidentally- but alone in the hollowed out underground, Camille could gaze wistfully at it; there was no need to pretend that that she didn't miss the sun, its pounding heat on her skin, the way it doused the dancing treetops in buttery gold. She could mourn the sun, because who would know?

Not even Alec Lightwood had bothered to come.

The vampire snapped her thoughts like a rubber band. She was Lady Belcourt, and Lady Belcourt did not get sentimental, or- lonely.

There it was, the forbidden word, the one she may as well acknowledge, for there was no-one to see her slip. Camille had been so painfully, emptily lonely for centuries, centuries spent meaninglessly, living as a distraction. She was a lonely sun, orbited by planets that never came close or touched, that no-one ever looked at directly for fear of being blinded.

At the center of her lonely universe, Camille burned.

Magnus Bane had loved her once. Maybe he could learn to again, and perhaps this time, _she_ could learn to love him back. Once her plan for Alexander Lightwood was enacted, of course. It would take time for Magnus to heal, but he would- they had eternity after all.

Before the silly sentimental fancies, Camille had been plotting. Her own deviousness caused a thin, tight smile to lick across her lips. Ah, there she was, Lady Belcourt. A classical track filled the spacious room, still a little greyish despite her best efforts to brighten it with elegant, blood-red furniture and decorations, somehow chilly-looking, though the vampire felt neither heat nor cold.

She set down her book- Russian literature that Magnus had once enjoyed, but failed to enthral her- and concentrated further on her plan.

It was an elaborate plan, one that would affect many, and required a considerable amount of effort to guarantee its intended outcomes, yet Camille was confident in her success. After all, she _always_ got what she wanted, and right now she wanted company, revenge and power. From several different people.

And what could give her all of these things? The Manhattan vampire clan.

The lust for Raphael Santiago's blood, the bittersweet taste of vengeance, was burning in Camille's throat, stirring her sluggishly flowing blood into boiling rivers in the veins that snaked across her smooth, blank skin.

She needed to _feed_…

Camille didn't know whether she could slaughter Raphael. She was more cunning, ruthless, experienced, but he was protected by the clan, not enough of which were loyal to her anymore. But someone could, someone more than capable of getting him alone, and ending him, _and _slotting right into her plan. She could make Alexander kill that rat Santiago, and make him think that she would give him what he longed for in return.

Not long ago, she would have sent Walker and Archer out to do the dirty work… the memory of them sent a chill to Camille's unbeating heart. Poor things. The vampire stretched out her long, lily-white limbs. She needed a new subjugate, new blood. Specifically, Alec.

Naturally, she would enjoy playing with him for a little longer; she loved a challenge, especially when it resulted in the breaking of a shadowhunter, and he was so _passionate. _She adored messing with him- his emotions were gorgeously wild, which for an immortal was a precious thing, they amused her to no end.

All the more fun to destroy him.

Camille's smile was truly vampiric, needle-thin fangs just grazing the plume of her blood-red bottom lip.

The best part was that the Clave could take no action, as she could pass it off as Alec's need to be immortal for Magnus. Being subservient, he would of course tell them it was the truth. What a good pet.

He was appropriately beautiful for such beautiful revenge- revenge on the shadowhunters who had chained her and killed her subjugates, revenge on the Daylighter, through Isabelle, whose betrayal had led to that, and revenge most of all on Magnus Bane. Carrying on with shadowhunters _again_; disgusting.

Over their many years apart, she hadn't thought of him much, he had been wonderful for a time but after that nasty business with the Herondale boy- it was only after she returned to New York, where he lived, that Camille had started to miss him.

She had been in Germany, seeking power. The power she had left when she abandoned the Manhattan clan decades before. Alas, she found the vampires in Berlin distastefully close to the shadowhunters for her liking. _Those uppity angel spawn think they own everything, _she had thought, _but they do not._So Camille had returned to her clan in New York, only to encounter Santiago in that festering hotel. Ugh.

The sooner the plan was enacted, the better.

**I know, no lemon. It will happen though, I promise. Pinky promise. **

**Please review, unless you want Alec to be a subjugate, mwa ha ha!**

**Love China. xxxxxx**


	7. City of Saucepans

**Hey there **** Another short chapter, I know, but it means more is coming, and soon. Have fun!  
Btw HikariMelody, I loved your comment about throwing Camille into the sunlight :P someone should.**

**I do not own the Mortal Instruments or the Scissor Sisters, as much as I love them, but I DO own a gorgeous silky kimono.**

In Brooklyn, Alexander Lightwood started to wake, oblivious to Camille's plans for him. Unwelcome tendrils of alertness snaked towards him. "No," he mumbled "Not yet!" but the tendrils drew him gently out of his slumber, and into the morning.

The aroma of fresh coffee nuzzled his nose and he opened one startlingly blue eye.

Judging by the yellow covers he was at Magnus', but Magnus, for a change, wasn't in bed, which would explain the coffee smell and the strange sounds emanating from the kitchen. Over some odd clankings, Alec could hear his off-key singing.

_I've been waiting for the day,  
That I could throw away these numbers  
That line my dresser drawers and covers  
Start me over  
Life seems so much slower, with your toothbrush by the mirror  
Could I make it any clearer?_

An idiotic grin plastered itself to Alec's face, warmth stirring just below his collarbone; he loved to hear Magnus sing, especially when the lyrics could relate to _them_, although today he sounded oddly strained.

Too lazy to dress yet, Alec slipped on a purple and gold kimono of Magnus', loving the soft whisper of silk on skin, and padded into the kitchen.

What he saw he never could have prepared for, even from Magnus.

The warlock was sprawled across the tiled floor amidst a city of saucepans, bare feet planted against the fridge, wearing nothing but a pair of glittery silver jeans which were around his bony knees, two wooden spoons and a whisk jammed into the top. Alec was speechless.

"Magnus- I- I don't- by the angel-"

"Alec, this looks strange, I know, but-"

Alec's voice (and sanity) returned with a jolt.

"What in Raziel's name are you doing?" he yelled hysterically, blue eyes wide. "I've seen you do some weird things, but this is beyond-"

"Alexander, calm down." He wriggled, trying to sit up, but knocking his elbow on a colander. "Ouch! Alec, I am simply _trying_ to get these jeans on…but I – I can't!"

In that moment, the hilarity of the situation hit Alec, and he cracked up laughing.

"You- jeans- you- with- whisk!" he choked, Magnus glaring up at him.

"I was trying to put them on, but I fell- don't laugh, it was extremely distressing! Knocked over the pans, and I can't get up because my knees are stuck. See!"

He gestured with a long, elegant hand, stray sparks fizzling from the tips of his fingers. Alec was still chuckling.

"And the spoons? The whisk?"

Magnus bit his glossy bottom lip, a gesture coined from Alec, which melted his heart around the edges.

"I tried to hook them in to pull up the waistband…but they got stuck!"

Alec glanced at his boyfriends' slender, caramel-coloured thighs, more than a little appreciatively.

"Just how tight are those jeans?"

Magnus grinned slyly despite his awkward situation.

"Let's just say they'd make a condom feel like a bin bag. Hell, a duvet cover. A parachute!"

**Ten minutes later**

Jace and Isabelle stood outside Magnus' door, unsure as to whether they should enter. Ordinarily, Izzy would just barge in, possibly armed, and demand her brother, but certain noises from within deterred them.

"By the angel Magnus! So tight!" Panting and groaning followed.

"Come on Alec, nearly there baby!"

"Magnus, push your foot against the oven, that's it!"

"So close- Alec, take out the whisk- YES! Oh god yes!"

Isabelle cringed further, and Jace crooked an eyebrow, looking slightly sick. Whisk? What sort of depravity was this? Enough was enough.

Isabelle reluctantly pushed open the door, half-dragging Jace to the kitchen. Her brother and the High Warlock were slumped, Magnus on the floor, Alec against the counter, breathing heavily, but Alec, thankfully, was fully clothed. Magnus however, was clad in barely-legal silver jeans that clung obscenely to his legs and- other places, leaving barely anything to the imagination.

"By the Angel! Those are _t__ight!_ I can see your _junk_, like, more than normal!"

"Jesus Magnus, I can practically count your pubes!" Jace added.

He giggled feebly as Alec hoisted him into a standing position.

"Good to see you as always, Izzy darling. Wayland. And yes, Alec was just helping me into them, with the aid of three spoons and a whisk, in case you were wondering."

She nodded, black tresses undulating down her slim back.

"Hard work, but _so _worth it. Don't I look fabulous? Splendiferous? Divine?"

Magnus strutted, somewhat restrictedly, to a full-length diamond encrusted mirror that had spontaneously sprung into existence, winking at his reflection.

"Why yes, I do!" He purred delightedly, giving a shimmering twirl and sounding exactly like Chairman Meow after being given a kitty treat. Izzy giggled, and Alec tried in vain not to gape. Magnus indeed looked fabulous, splendiferous, divine, delicious and a whole load of other things, not all of them printable.

He must have done something right in a past life, he thought, to have Magnus as a boyfriend- and he said he'd think about the immortality thing. The thought of being able to enjoy him forever was so wonderful it nearly dealt Alec a heart attack.

"Now, do excuse me," Magnus grinned "I must go put on a shirt."

If only Camille wasn't planning to ruin it all.

**If everything goes well, you should get your lemon soon…especially if you review, specifically regarding the return of the magic magic 8 ball, yes or no? I love your reviews, I really do. Bad as well as good.**

**Love China xxxxxx**


	8. Twinkly Human Snowglobe

**Hey! Anyone else seeing Cassandra Clare on her mini-tour of the UK? I AM! Tomorrow! **

Jace stared at Alec for a moment after Magnus had glittered away like a twinkly human snow globe, shirt-seeking. His tawny eyes caught and held the light, but Alec wasn't affected like he would've been a few months ago. Then Jace spoke.

"Your boyfriend is unbelievable."

"Isn't he?" Alec mused without thinking, the statement quickly followed by a redwine blush that leapt onto his face and stuck there like Spiderman to a tower block. Izzy cooed as he scrambled after Magnus, mumbling something about getting dressed properly, and Jace realised for the first time that all he'd been wearing under that ridiculous silky garment was PJ bottoms.

"Nice robe, dork!" he called, earning a glare from Isabelle and Alec's middle finger stuck around the bedroom door.

A few minutes later, Magnus strode back into the kitchen, fully dressed, made up, and shedding more glitter than an acid-tripping faerie.

"So, anyway, why are you here?" he asked, springing neatly to sit up on the counter, which instantly turned an attractive shade of violet. He winced a little as the jeans tightened their death grip on his thighs, taking revenge for his sudden movement. Damn, they were snug.

"Maryse sent us." Jace explained, using the point of a seraphic dagger to dig the dirt from under his fingernails. "We're all going on a hunt, Alec included."

Magnus pouted.

"But I wanted to show him off today! I feel exuberant- haven't you seen my damn jeans? It's no fun showing off without Alec- well, maybe a little- but I want to prance around with my man candy! Why are you ruining my life?"

Isabelle began to tell him that they had indeed seen his jeans, but there was nothing they could do about their demon-killing schedule when Alec emerged from the bedroom.

"I am _not_ man candy. I don't even understand that term- no, don't tell me, I don't want to know. Anyway, did you say we were hunting today?" He looked to Jace, who seemed disappointed at the missed opportunity to offer a no doubt exceedingly witty explanation of 'man candy'.

"Yup. Down in Queens. Apparently some idiotic mundanes were messing about with magic and-"

"EGAD! Magic!" Magnus shrieked, leaping up and jabbing a bejewelled finger into the air. "I remember! Wayland, I have a bone to pick with you."

Jace's face danced rapidly from shock, to concern, to guilt, and finally settled on reflexive expressionlessness.

"Is that so?" he asked, arching a cinnamon-coloured eyebrow.

"Yes." Izzy and Alec scooted to sit on the worktop, amusedly watching the exchange. "I told you not to touch the magic magic 8 ball!"

Jace froze.

"How did you-?"

"It told me! Very distressed it was too, you should be ashamed of yourself asking questions like that!"

"I figured it was just a-"

"I _told_ you it was really magic, didn't I, you stupid child?"

"Hey, I am only one year younger than your boyfriend, you know!"

Alec looked aggrieved, then hastily covered it by turning to brew some coffee.

"Alexander is by no means a child. Firstly," Magnus held up a thin, elegant finger, sparks trailing over it like tiny ribbons of tinsel. "because he is eighteen, which makes him a legal adult, and secondly," Another finger joined the first, this one partially obscured by a long gold ring in the shape of a coiling serpent. "because he doesn't act like one."

Jace snorted, while Magnus leaned back and crossed his slender arms. A slight smattering of dark hair textured them down to the wrists, a feature that Jace secretly envied. He had practically no hair on _his_ wrists, and it was all blonde. Back-of-the-wrist hair was, in his eyes, the sign of a proper man. Not that Magnus, the glitzy half-demon could be classed as a 'proper man'; he was more like the humanoid offspring of a Christmas tree and a lightning storm.

"Then I guess you've never tried to take away his quilt?" both sides smirked at Alec's blush.

"And I guess you've never- actually, that's not something you have done, or need to know about. Another day, perhaps. But Alexander is most definitely a _man._"

Ruffling his hair, Magnus dropped Alec an open-mouthed wink. "I don't imagine you got much out of the magic magic 8 ball anyway."

Alec frowned, toying with his own fraying sleeve. "Why? I thought it could only tell the truth, and had the answer to every question it's possible to think of?"

Magnus grinned, and Jace went back to scraping at his nails, a small smirk playing about his golden features.

"Oh, it can. But it's terribly sarcastic, you see. Now!" he clapped his hands, showering the startled shadowhunters in glitter and turquoise sparks. "Don't you have some demons to slay?"

"Yes." said Jace sarcastically "Do feel free to tag along, won't you."

"Actually," Magnus said, with a worryingly mischievous smile "I think I'll take you up on that."

**Later that day, shortly after sundown.**

Everyone- except Clary and Simon who had just joined the group- was exhausted from the day's hunt, sweat beading on brows and gluing damp, frizzing hair to foreheads. Magnus had never realised how much hard work being a shadowhunter was, although he had no complaints about seeing Alec sweaty and leather-clad, working his straining muscles to their max- _stop it_, he thought, _don't get too carried away, you need to save your excitement for Eurovision tomorrow._

Magnus winked, without thinking, at an anaemic-looking vampire whose eyes had previously been fixed hungrily on his crotch- That had been happening even more than usual, due to the wonder jeans. Wonderful, but…as much as it hurt to admit, they had begun to cause a strange numb feeling in his feet- then he realised what he had done. Alec's eyes blazed, and he hooked his fingers possessively into Magnus' belt, pulling him roughly against the jealous shadowhunter.

"Hey Vamp, get your own!" Izzy, Jace, Clary, Simon and Magnus simultaneously froze in shock. They stared at Alec. He shrugged as the vampire scuttled away, looking disappointed. "What?"

"Are you kidding?" Jace asked, his eyebrows having shot so high they were practically entangled in his golden hair. "You are Alec. That behaviour was…well, Magnus."

Magnus snaked his arms gleefully around Alec's waist.

"I guess we're rubbing off on each other in more ways than one," he trilled, Alec's face colouring immediately. "Oh, _now_ you blush!"

"He was checking out my boyfriend," Alec murmured in Jace's direction, conveniently ignoring said boyfriend's suggestive comment.

The real reason he was so protective wasn't just the vampire's eager expression. He was used to people eyeing up Magnus, mentally undressing him, and although he didn't like it he could deal, as the High Warlock, for some reason, only wanted him. Once again, the reason for his strange behaviour was Camille.

She had been lurking, watching, following, since sundown, barely noticeable in the dusty shadows, like a spider. Alec shuddered. What a horrible thought. Wiping all spidery images from his mind, he carried on walking with the others. Camille stirred in the darkness between a pizza place and an Indian takeaway, green eyes taunting him as they turned a corner. Only he, and Jace, had noticed her.

The group had decided to retreat to Magnus' apartment for what most of them called 'dinner' and what Magnus called 'a pre-Eurovision soiree", considering that he was insanely excited, and they wanted to relax somewhere that wouldn't get interrupted by Maryse yelling about mud on her rugs.

The fly in the ointment, however, was that the warlock wanted to 'recharge', so someone had to cook. Izzy had offered, but the suggestion hadn't gone down well.

"N-no!" Alec stammered, before receiving a death glare from his sister, which Jace quickly intercepted.

"Last time you cooked, Izzy, you clogged up the toaster with bits of broccoli."

"The recipe said lightly toast-"

"That doesn't mean in the toaster. Jesus woman, if these were medieval times you'd have been burnt for witchcraft."

"They didn't have toasters in the middle ages, Jace."

"That is entirely besides the point."

And so, the discussions began as to who should cook.

Magnus, it turned out, could cook, but Alec cut in and said no.

"Okay, so recipe instructions are generally ignored, cooking times are generally improvised, and experimental cooking is generally encouraged. But they always turn out amazing." Magnus protested.

"Didn't your chilli cause a mundane to have a heart attack?"

Magnus sighed, looking down at the pink-and-black pointed-tip brogues he'd had made bespoke in the 1970's.

"Well, I warned him. If you find a cardamom, don't bite into it. They add more than flavour. But he didn't listen, therefore it was not my fault. And anway, Alec can't cook."

Izzy had been on the verge of suggesting this, and looked interested.

"Why can't he?"

"Well, he can follow a recipe, but he gets mess _everywhere._ And he always forgets the cooking times, even when he writes them down."

"It's true." Alec looked mournful. "But Jace could cook."

Jace looked up from where he had been checking out Clary. "My skills are much sought after, even in the kitchen." Clary looked doubtful, and spoke up for the first time in ages, considering she'd been quietly chatting to Simon about Lord of the Rings.

"Don't listen to him! He's a perfectionist! Everything has to be meticulously measured, timed, and oh my god, it's annoying." Jace looked betrayed. "Love him though."

"She can't even do eggs." He muttered. Clary ignored him.

"Simon can cook."

"What? Ratboy?" Magnus voiced everyone's communal surprise.

"Yeah," Simon grinned awkwardly "My mother insisted I learn. I make mean almond macaroons for Passover."

"Ratboy it is."

As they entered the supermarket for ingredients, Camille followed, mostly unseen, but out of the corner of his eye, Alec caught the flash of her blonde hair as she darted behind a stack of boxes, the glimmer of fangs under the harsh lighting. And a hissed whisper, so quiet he wasn't even sure if he was imagining things.

"Having fun, Alexander? For how much longer?"

**I hope you liked this chapter, I'm not sure about it. There is more coming very shortly. And if you think it's weird of Jace to notice Camille and not do anything to help his parabatai…well, you'll see. Thanks for reading, and review if you want to know what Jace asked the magic magic 8 ball!**

**Love, China. **


	9. Not In My Damn Cab

**Hello you gorgeous people. Merci to all readers, je t'aime, but more importantly GUESS WHAT CASSANDRA CLARE WROTE WHEN SHE SIGNED MY BOOK! She wrote "you are not trivial". I very nearly died. I may propose to her. Also, lemon this chapter, and what Jace asked the magic magic 8 ball next time.**

**And Zoe, you no read this!**

Camille glared daggers as they walked along the bustling street, laughing to each other. There had been a time when she had a group like that, friends, but they were so much different. They had power, style, money, wherever they went, downworlders and mundanes alike had parted like the red sea to let them through- and if they didn't, well. They were hungry for more than power.

Magnus had been part of that group, and she knew how he had loved it. The attention he'd loved the most of all of them. Surely he missed it as much as she did? Hanging around with these idiotic children, how could they fulfil him?

When Alec was out of the picture, she would give him what he needed. They could get the old group back together, if they wanted. They could do anything.

Camille had to think of the future; she abhorred the present. Slinking in the shadows like some dirty old alley cat, hiding from the Clave. With Magnus to protect her she wouldn't have to walk in shadow. His power was greater than anyone knew, even himself, his father had seen to that. And he had never tested its limits. But all that was for later, right now she needed to remind Alec Lightwood who was in charge, who he needed.

Jace had caught his first glimpse of the vampire just after the sun sank, jagged sunbeams jutting out from behind the city's buildings no longer. The sky had faded from watery orange-blue to raspberry violet to that luminous cobalt blue which drenches the world in electric half-light.

Camille had been slinking anfractuously in the shadows behind a large, regal bank where they had earlier dispatched six or so Vermis demons. She was like a ghost, pale and bleached by the moon- not that Jace saw ghosts very often, but he had- and she seemed barely there.

At first he'd been puzzled as to why she would follow them, but then the penny dropped with a clang. Camille was after Alec. He could tell, because as soon as Alec had spotted her, he'd become uneasy, rattled - he was hiding it well, but Jace could literally feel his parabatai's anxiety like a nest of ants at the base of his own skull.

He didn't know if Alec knew he'd seen her too, but he was pretty sure none of the others had. Even Magnus, which just showed how depleted his magic was; Jace had once seen him magically trip a werewolf that had been ogling Alec so that he stepped directly into the path of a large fly, consequently zooming down his throat. All from fifty feet away, and he'd had his eyes closed.

Of course, his instant reaction upon seeing that uppity vampire pissing off his parabatai was the urge to rip out her throat and eyeballs, but that would violate the accords. 'Making your parabatai uncomfortable' surely wasn't a justifiable cause. So Jace had spoken to Alec, taking him to one side when Magnus and Izzy had stopped to get frappuccino's.

"_Look, man, why is that vamp bitch following you?"_

_Alec's blue eyes widened under his sweaty hair, and it struck Jace that it was like looking at a picture of Earth from space, stormy twin seas under inky black furrows of cloud._

"_It doesn't matter."_

_But they both knew that it did._

"_Alec, why don't I just go over there and-"_

"_No! No Jace, don't make a scene. That's what she wants, she didn't come all the way to Brooklyn just to look at me."_

"_Ah, then she must have come to look at me. Raziel knows I'm worth it-"_

"_Seriously, Jace. Don't acknowledge her, she's looking for trouble. Another chance to spit venom at me."_

"_But why does she- Alec, whatever it is, you don't have to hide it, not from me. You know you can tell me anything. We're parabatai. Hell, we're brothers."_

_Alec looked up, expecting Jace to go 'psyche!' but for once there was no sarcasm in the flickering golden eyes, just familial concern. He gently squeezed Jace's arm._

"_I know."_

Now Camille was following them into the supermarket of all places, and Jace couldn't take it anymore. His angel-amplified senses could hear her two aisles over. She wasn't breathing, but her movements were different to those of the surrounding mundanes; slinkier, sneakier, somehow less alive. The rage that had been bubbling up, rage at the twisted little vampire for trying to hurt decent, honest Alec for whatever reason, itched to explode out.

"Alec!" he hissed. "Come and…look at the mangoes."

"What?"

Alec looked confused. Simon, next to him, seemed meditative, as though he was remembering the time Jace had requested a mango and tomato soup for his tea.

"The mangoes. What, you're not _afraid_ of them, are you?" Jace hoped not, as he shot Alec a loaded look that said '_play along, dumbass!'_ He would be mortally offended if that were the case.

"Of course I'm not afraid of the mangoes. I am a demon hunter." He said, finally getting it, and they scuttled off to the lumpy stack of fruits, away from the others. Jace picked up one of the juicy, squidgy mangoes, getting a little misty-eyed for a second, then quickly snapped out of it. He was Jace Lightwood, and he had a vampire to sort out. **(AN- What is Jace calling himself now? Who knows.)**

"Alec, we can't let her do this."

"We can't fight her, Jace! We can't even speak to her! She knows exactly how to get under my skin, and Magnus', and probably yours too!"

"I'd thought of that. We can't fight Camille, but we can…annoy her."

Alec caught of the playful spark that that lit Jace's eyes like miniature lanterns, and grinned crookedly, unable to resist.

"Annoy her how?"

Camille strained to hear what that arrogant blonde was saying to Alexander- she couldn't recall his name. The one that wasn't really Valentine's son.

Probably something about his undying love for that midget redhead. Ugh. Mortals used the term without really knowing its true meaning. They didn't love, not really.

Alec and Not-Valentine's-Son scuttled into the next aisle, out of sight, so Camille snaked towards a gap between some cereal boxes, hoping to get a better view, when- THUD. A bag of sugar had dropped out of thin air, narrowly missing her. SMACK. Another, this one hitting her on the shoulder. She hissed, drew back, and saw the objects raining down around her, fury igniting in her chest.

Alec snorted as Jace tossed a bag of sugar over the top of the aisle. His snorts became giggles as the next one smacked the vampire's shoulder. The giggles brewed into laughter as both he and Jace lobbed random objects over the shelves; sugar, flour, even eggs that hit the floor unseen, but with satisfying crack-squelches.

Jace's syrup-coloured eyes lit up with a playful fire, grinning properly like he hadn't in a while, as both boys danced up and down, gleefully socking the unfortunately placed products at the fuming vampire, who, unable to fight them in public and outnumbered, fled the store swearing painful bloody revenge and demon pox on all their houses.

Unfortunately, security didn't take the tossing of unbought items around the store very well, and prepared to advance on them. Grabbing the others without purchasing anything to cook, Alec and Jace dashed out of the automatic doors, their laughter echoing into the night.

"What in the name of the Angel was that about?" Izzy panted, when they were safely out of sight.

"Aw," Jace slapped Alec's shoulder with a grin "Just looking out for Alec here. Making sure there's no trouble in the fair land of Waitrose!"

Izzy looked as though that hadn't really answered her question, but decided not to pursue it. After all, sometimes Alec and Jace acted weirdly; she supposed they were men and therefore couldn't help it.

"But we're still hungry. I mean, you shadowhunters can probably convert concrete into glucose and soak it up or something, but I can't. I need blood, and Magnus probably needs a glitter burger or something." Simon reminded.

"Screw it." Jace said. "Takeout?"

Everyone agreed.

Magnus however, had bigger problems than hunger. His feet were dangerously numb, and he wanted to get back to the apartment to change; the thing was, he couldn't admit it. The Magnificent Magnus Bane defeated by some tight glittery jeans? No. He had a reputation to uphold, if the downworld got wind of this- it didn't bear thinking about.

"Alexander." Alec looked up from the pavement, his eyes wide, like the pretty electric-blue china plates he'd thrown out in the sixties. Now he sort of wanted them back. "While the children pick up dinner, I suggest we get a cab and tidy up the apartment. We didn't sort it after our, ah, interlude this morning."

Jace looked at them. "Izzy and I were there this morning."

"Before you came over."

"Alec had only just woken up then."

"He also woke up in the early hours. Anyway, you two only went in the kitchen. The living room is…somewhat unsuitable to entertain in."

Jace looked as though he regretted saying anything, and Magnus hailed a cab, his outstretched arm drizzling glitter onto the dirty pavement. The couple slid into the back seat, Alec mumbling Magnus' address to the driver. "Bye kids!" Magnus grinned "And watch out for demons!"

Out on the street, lights from the surrounding buildings had painted a harsh glow over everything, but inside the hollowed-out cave of the taxi, the world was bathed in darkness that hung about Magnus' features like black mist. Alec could just see the curve of his boyfriend's throat, a faint outline of his face as if he were illustrated in charcoal. But charcoal wouldn't be so warm. He scooted closer, and felt the hot little tendrils of Magnus' breath on his ear and neck.

"Alec, undo your zipper." He whispered.

"What?"

In other circumstances, he wouldn't have worried about the shock on his face, but of course Magnus' feline eyes allowed him perfect vision even in the dark. All the better to see you with, Alec.

"You heard me, Alexander," he purred. Alec swallowed.

"Why?"

"So I can suck you off in the back of this cab," the words were a decadent growl escaping his lips, and they caused Alec's blood to rush south.

"Magnus, the driver is _right there_."

"Which is why I've cast a handy little spell. He can hear, but nothing coherent. Kind of like being underwater. So come on, chop chop!"

"Magnus, we _can't__!_"

"Alec, we _can."_

Alec could see Magnus gazing at him with burning lust-filled eyes, reeling him in, so close he could count the warlock's lustrous black eyelashes. The sight made his jeans tighten involuntarily. He was about to protest again, but Magnus grabbed him roughly by the shirt and trapped him in a kiss that blazed with the same fierce lust as his eyes.

Alec moaned a little, surrendering to the feel of his warm, wet lips; they tasted like sweet coffee, with a tangy hint of blood from a cut on his pillowy bottom lip. He pressed their chests together, Magnus smirking into his mouth as he dragged down Alec's zipper and pulled down the clothing with long, capable fingers.

The feeling of Magnus' hands on him sent shivers down Alec's spine as the warlocks' tongue danced into his mouth and then suddenly, abruptly, he pulled away. Alec pouted at the loss, wanting him back like someone about to break the surface of water craved air, but found himself not caring as Magnus knelt in the footwell and stroked the tip of his painfully hard cock.

He bit back a groan, threading fingers into Magnus' lush dark hair, and an enthusiastic lick followed the strokes lead, electric heat rushing straight to Alec's core making him buck his hips, desperate for friction.

"_Magnus,"_

"Oui Alexandre, c'est moi."

Alec moaned throatily, gripping the warlock with his knees, both loving and hating the slow, teasing torture.

"Don't tease me." He growled, tugging Magnus' hair.

"S'il vous plait, Alexandre?" Alec felt a primal desire rising inside of him, and only the driver's presence made him fight the urge to throw his lover across the seat and fuck him right there in the cab.

"_Please_" he begged, and gasped- if he stopped now it would be pure hell.

Finally, Magnus took him in, all the way, and Alec threw back his head so far he could see out of the back window, the nearly empty city streets. In that moment he wouldn't have cared if a demon in a leotard had been staring back at him.

As Magnus bobbed and sucked, hollowing out his cheeks, Alec couldn't help but moan and writhe, wringing the collar of Magnus' jacket in tight fists, until he felt that familiar heat that meant he was nearly there. The feeling was so exquisite he wanted it to last, but Magnus sensed his state and hummed his approval around Alec, causing him to come and scream out his boyfriend's name.

Unfortunately, a sound of that volume couldn't be ignored by the driver, who's sound-dulling spell broke and he turned around, eyes bugging out like those of a startled fish.

"What the hell! Not in my damn cab! Get out!"

**There you go guys, my first lemon. Hope you liked it, as there is more to come! Please please please review, as I desperately need your feedback on this one!**

**Love, China. xxxxxxxxxxx**


	10. Power Cuts In Brooklyn

**Hello, once again. I hope you like this chapter. The next one might actually have some plot in it.**

When Jace, Clary, Simon and Izzy trudged into Magnus' building laden with bulging Taki's takeout bags, they buzzed repeatedly, but no answer came. Clary slashed a quick rune onto the door, and proclaimed the apartment to be empty, save Chairman Meow. After several minutes of waiting, they grew increasingly bored, nothing to do in the dusty building except become even more so.

Isabelle was impatient, and reminded Simon somewhat of an angry cat, not that he'd admit it. He rather liked having his head attached to his shoulders.

She paced the hallway outside Magnus' door, hair swirling around her in a black tornado as she hissed expletives under her breath, eyes narrowed to wicked slits fringed with thick lashes like the petals of an ebony daisy. Apparently, Izzy didn't like to be kept waiting.

Clary and Jace were crouched like homeless people on the scrubby carpet, talking quietly about some new rune Clary had dreamed up.

"Yes, it will-"

"So it's like the Fearless rune?"

Clary patiently shushed Jace with a squeeze of his hand, showing him a little rune she'd scrawled on a Starbucks receipt.

"A bit, but you could still control, to an extent, what you're saying. I think. There's only one way to know for sure."

"Use Alec as a guinea pig again? It's a shame we can't use the vampire, he's more lab rat material."

"Shut up. Anyway, Alec's not here. We'll have to use you."

"Hell no. Alec will be here- I think…what in the name of the Angel is taking them so damn long? It's one little cab ride! We've been waiting here for years, Raziel only knows where they are."

Simon smirked at the expression, and spontaneously looked to the ceiling, bellowing

"RAZIEL! WHERE ARE ALEC AND MAGNUS?"

Clary dissolved into giggles, and Isabelle stopped pacing to give a brief, astonished laugh. Jace, of course, stayed perfectly still, betraying no emotion.

"Wouldn't it be funny if he answered!" Clary chuckled, throwing her best friend a fond grin. But they were still bored. Simon sank to the carpet, glancing briefly at the walls, a grubby, faded shade of what had probably once been mint green, thin cracks spidering across the dusty surface. He had once asked Magnus why he chose to live in such an old building, and Magnus had replied '_It's so adorably vintage, and no-one will think to look for me here." _Considering that the warlock had his address printed on all the flyers for his very frequent parties, Simon didn't believe it had been a completely truthful answer.

"So come on Jace, roll up your sleeve, I wanna try this rune out."

"No way. Alec will be here. Won't you Alec? ALEEEEEEEC!"

**Meanwhile…**

Magnus tumbled out of the taxi, laughing and wiping his chin with a long middle finger, pausing in his stride only to catch Alec, who had stumbled trying to pull up his jeans.

"Magnus…I cannot believe you talked me into that!"

"Honey, it never takes _that_ much persuasion. And anyway you loved it." Alec just smiled. "Now come on, we've got to walk the rest of the way, considering that incredibly rude cabbie!"

"Oh yeah, he was the rude one. You should lodge a complaint."

Magnus took Alec's warm hand, rough and calloused from years of fighting, and led him down the street. Although the day had been hot, its demise had a biting chill and a fluttery breeze that hinted at coming rain. Magnus loved that sort of electric night climate, but he couldn't enjoy it because of the jeans- he needed to sit down, not trek through Brooklyn in the cold.

"Well," he smiled at Alec, whose cheeks were still flushed a delicate pink despite the chill. "He wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't yelled like that." He squeezed the shadowhunter's fingers, but Alec still looked down at his shoes. Which weren't particularly enthralling.

"I tried to keep quiet, but, you- you did that _thing_ with your-"

"Ah yes." Magnus hummed, at the same time moving his lips, teeth and tongue in an odd way that made him look quite grotesque, mimicking something he'd done during their time in the taxi. "I have an uncanny talent."

"Magnus, you know you're gorgeous, but that's not your best look."

"Ah, laugh now, but when I do that with a mouthful of cock-" Alec shushed him, blushing, as a woman carrying a flowery bag walked past, smirking a little at their conversation.

"So that's how you do that!" Alec's blush intensified until he was the colour of a poppy. "I've been trying to figure it out since we first got together."

"It's a gift. No-one else can do it, see?" He did it again. "In San Francisco, it's known as the 'Magnus Bane Job'. Made me a fortune in the seventies."

Alec spluttered, then his features settled into curiosity. "When were you in San Francisco?" Magnus scowled slightly, realising he'd hinted a little too much at the past. Damn Alec Lightwood.

"You'd love it there. I'll take you some day." Alec didn't relent.

"But you charged people to-"

"I've got nothing to hide. I am who I am." He answered untruthfully, with a diversionary wink. "As the great man says."

They had got to Magnus' building and he opened the age-warped door, letting Alec into the lobby first.

"Dickens said that?"

"No, silly. Adam Lambert!"

The warlock tutted fondly, guiding Alec up the rickety wooden stairs that led to his apartment, the smell of dust and takeout washing over them. He was just too _cute_! He was about to scoop him up and run the rest of the way, when a yell rang out over the creaking of the steps.

"ALEEEEEEEEEEC!"

Wayland.

Magnus still couldn't believe what he'd asked the magic magic 8 ball.

Alec sped up at his parabatai's call, dragging Magnus into the hallway where the others were gathered on the carpet like a handful of spilled sweets.

"Where in Raziel's name have you been? I was so BORED!" Izzy whined, as Magnus unlocked the door and waved a glittery hand, magically tidying everything inside.

"Terribly sorry," Magnus apologised as they all filtered into the lounge and sprawled out on several moss-green armchairs he had seen on the walk over. "We were rather unceremoniously thrown out of our taxi."

Jace lunged for a bag of sweet potato fries, the smell of which teased Magnus' hungry senses.

"Why?"

Alec shot Magnus a warning look that said quite clearly '_don't even think about it'_, that he chose to ignore.

"Well, as you know, Alexander has a rather wild side to him and he _insisted _that I suck hi-"

Alec's face nearly exploded with the blush that dominated it.

"More like Magnus jumped me."

"Alec, you dog!" Jace breathed, internally jealous. Clary would never think of something like that, they hadn't even seen each other naked yet.

Clary cut in before the conversation could become too dirty.

"So guys, I've got a new rune to show you!" They peeked at her with mouths full of food and eyes full of interest. She let herself bask in the attention for a fraction of a second before whipping out a stele from her jeans pocket. It was cool to the touch, smooth and slightly heavy, like the pestle Luke used to crush his wolfsbane. "It's called _Honesty_."

Izzy's dark eyes widened, thinking of her father. "Does it make people tell the truth even if they don't want to?"

"I think it's like the Fearless rune in that you'll spill more than you usually would, but more manageable. Like you couldn't avoid a direct question, but you won't lose your mind. I'd like to try it on two people, to get a good idea of the effect."

Alec sighed and rolled up his sleeve, revealing a muscular forearm, creamy pale but lightly covered in dark hair, one swirling mark coiling up the inside of his arm like a thick black snake.

After a meaningful glare from his girlfriend, Jace followed suit, trying and failing to not think about back-of-the-wrist hair and how unfair it was that Alec had it and he didn't.

Alec didn't wince at the brief burn of Clary's stele; as it licked across the inside of his wrist a curious sense of peace stole over him. He smiled happily at Jace.

"I was never really in love with you, you know." He told him. Izzy dropped her head into her hands, shaking with silent laughter, tendrils of hair seeping out from between her fingers and trailing down like streams of water. And so it starts.

"I know." Jace replied. "You just needed my help to see it. You're welcome, by the way." Alec giggled, eyes free of his usual stormy-blue web of worry; instead they glittered like the rippling surface of a clear pool.

"It's good you got it right, though, or it would have been _so_ awkward!" He giggled gleefully into his hand, reminiscent of a small child. Jace, to everyone's utter shock, did the same.

"Well Clary, it definitely has an interesting effect. But if I ask them what they're on about, which incidentally I'm rather curious to know, will they tell me the truth?" Magnus asked. Clary pondered for a moment. She really wasn't sure of the runes power yet, but the symbol spoke to her of the truth, whispered in the language of the angels.

"Yes."

"Alec darling, how did Jace make you come to this revelation?"

"Well, we were in Alicante and he was basically being a dick to everyone, so when he started saying he knew how I thought I felt, I assumed he was just trying to hurt me," words gushed from Alec's lips in a cascade of truth; he would have felt extremely uncomfortable without the rune, but now he wondered why. What was the point in keeping secrets? He trusted everyone here, and why should he even care what they thought?

"But then he asked me to kiss him-"

"He did WHAT?" Magnus roared, and the lights of the whole street flickered dangerously. Alec laid a soothing hand on his boyfriend's arm.

"I love it that you're all protective, but calm down, you're going all Gandalf! Anyway, I didn't kiss Jace, because I didn't want to! I realised that. I only want to kiss _you." _ He pecked Magnus on the lips, and the lights returned to normal.

"Wayland, I hope Clary's bisexual," Magnus glared. "Because you are a prick _and_ a twat."

Clary looked down at her dinner, a pleasantly tangy noodle dish that tasted of garlic and ginger, causing her lips to tingle faintly. She'd had the occasional thought about girls, but would never go through with anything.

"I'm not." She mumbled, shovelling in another forkful of noodles.

"That would be hot." Jace stated simply, leaning back in his chair, unfazed by the insult.

Simon wondered what he could ask either Alec or Jace in order to embarrass them later…

"So, Jace. What did you ask the magic magic 8 ball?" he asked casually.

Magnus choked on a mouthful of spinach.

"It said I could have three questions, but, it only answered one of them. It was very rude to me. How do you put up with it, Magnus?"

"Oh, it'll tell me anything. It's had a thing for me since the eighties."

"Oh, okay. First I asked it if Valentine ever loved me. And it said yes. Then after a few minutes of procrastinating I got bored and asked it how big Magnus' dick was." Izzy's expression turned from sympathy to amusement. She'd asked Alec the same, and he hadn't answered either. "It made some highly insensitive comments about both my sexuality and my relationship with family members, or assumed family members." Clary and Alec blushed. Magnus snorted, then cut in quickly.

"Don't tell them the last one, Jace. Poor Clary doesn't need the embarrassment. I was embarrassed for you both when it told me. Jesus, you twisted child." Jace shrugged, leaving Clary both worried and intrigued. Simon meanwhile, had been thinking of another question.

"Alec, who really started whatever happened to get you kicked out of the taxi?"

"Magnus, obviously. He's a total exhibitionist. I would never have agreed, but he started speaking French, and when he does that my self-control just dissolves. It reminds me of our night in Paris." Magnus grinned, his tongue lazily licking his quirked-up bottom lip.

"That was fun. Although why you wouldn't let the hotel boy join in, I have no idea. He was very polite when he asked, and I know you thought he was hot."

"He was hot, that's why I said no. You would've gotten jealous if I paid him more attention than you and turned him into a throw pillow or something." Magnus smirked. Alec wasn't even blushing. Not even a little.

"I probably would have, but you wouldn't seriously have done that. You didn't find him hotter than me, that would be ridiculous!"

"No, you're the sexiest man I've ever seen!" God, Magnus thought, this honesty rune was brilliant! He wanted to pull the adorable shadowhunter onto his lap, but the jeans were having none of it. He made the mistake of standing up, and immediately regretted it.

"_Fuck._ Stupid-damn-jeans…" Izzy got up, having finished her food, and steadied him.

"Okay, darling?" she asked.

"No…damn, it's lucky I'm infertile- they probably just stopped all my sperm production for today-"

"TAKE THEM OFF!" Alec yelled, leaping out of his seat and yanking down Magnus' zipper. "Everybody get out!"

Clary bustled to her feet, hurrying along Simon and Jace. Alec didn't seem to be kidding.

"Alexander, what _are_ you doing?"

"Taking off these idiotic jeans, so they stop annoying you and you can fuck me until I can't see straight." Magnus was flushed, looking both shocked and delighted. He turned to the others.

"You'd better go, I think he means it. Sorry to throw you out so unexpectedly."

"Get out or watch!" Alec yelled. They hastily obliged. Izzy was the last out of the door, and the only one to catch Alec's parting shot. "Tell Mum I won't be home tonight!"

Magnus purred. Three times in one day? He hoped no-one would be seriously injured, which was likely if this kept up.

Outside, the others closed the door.

"Clary, are you okay to get a cab with Simon?" Jace asked. "I always worry about you when you're not with me. You could get cold, or mugged, or a demon might-"

"Don't worry, Jace." She reassured him. His eyes were a strange shade in the dark, like a blob of honey on black paper. She liked honesty-rune-Jace, even if honesty-rune-Alec was a bit tricky. "I'll be fine. Simon and I are perfectly capable of dealing with demons, or muggers, and I can deal with being cold. Promise."

They hailed a cab, and as they pulled away, Jace's gaze didn't leave hers through the dust-streaked window, a small, sweet smile lingering on his face.

Izzy and Jace took a step forward, meaning to head for the subway, when suddenly they were plunged into blackness. The whole street's power had cut- streetlights included.

"There's no storm coming," Izzy giggled "That must've been Magnus."

As if to illustrate her point, several windows of Magnus' building shattered, glass shards littering the floor, and out of one, flew a shoe. The pink-and-black vintage brogue hit the pavement with a dull thud, landing inches away from Jace's left foot.

"I think we'd better leave." He suggested, and they strode into the night. No-one would challenge them; they looked impossibly dangerous with their swirling marks, barely concealed weapons, and eyes that gleamed fiercely in the headlamps of passing cars. And if any unfortunate mugger tried it, the consequences were their own problem.

**Magnus doesn't seem like the type to care if he's causing power cuts, does he ;)**

**I hope you liked it, please review, because I love you lots and lots like jelly tots. Although jelly tots are actually sort of boring, so much more than that. Even if what you have to say is 'Go home you annoying midget'. **

**Love, China. **


	11. Red and Blonde

**Hiya! **

**To the**** reviewer**** most appropriately named 'Come On', you make a good point, and I completely understand your annoyance. But just to make it clear, I was never going to withhold the chapter. The number was driving me crazy, so ****I posted the AN-**** I hadn't actually written ****the chapter at that time, I was ****not**** refusing to continue to get reviews.**

**So I'm sorry if it seemed that way, I totally understand and I hope you enjoy the rest. I hurried this just for you.**

The Seelie Queen lounged, despite the servants scurrying around her, on a long, gold divan; russet hair dribbling over her slender body in thick fluid ropes, cleaving the white of her skin like leakings of oil. One pale, spidery hand rested at her side, the other toyed absent-mindedly with the wings of a dying butterfly pinned to the lapel of her gown. Meliorn approached her with subservient eyes.

"Lady Belcourt wishes to see you, My Queen."

"Lady Belcourt?" Her sharp gaze pierced the faerie knight, and she gave a short, shrill laugh. "Let her through. This will be good. You may then leave."

He obliged, retreating through the shimmering blood-red curtain that acted as a door to her private chamber. Almost immediately after, the vampire entered, swaying snakily in the dim, soft light.

"Well met, Your Highness."

"Well met, Lady Belcourt."

Camille's eyes seemed entirely black in the semi-darkness, as though the pupil was out to swallow all the white it could, the blonde of her hair unnaturally white.

"You wished to see me, and that has been allowed. I assume, knowing of your lust for revenge, that you wish to beg a favour?"

"I am most grateful, my lady, that you have agreed to see me, and it is true that I long for your help- in exchange, of course" she bowed her head graciously, ripples of hair brushing her white throat as she knelt beside the Queen. "For a service of my own."

"Of course. But why would I possibly want a favour from you? What is it that you could offer me to sweeten my consideration of your proposal?"

Camille leaned close, conspirationally, eyes and lips gleaming, so close that the other woman's rich, floral scent teased her vampire senses.

"The shadowhunters, the children of the Institute. They have done me wrong, and I hear they have treated you similarly, no respect for those more powerful than themselves. They do not understand how easily they could be crushed. We both want revenge, I think, though if you desire something else then I shall see it done, my lady- but I imagine you harbour the same 'lust' as I."

Their gazes met. The Queen flicked a sinuous tongue over the blood-red bulge of her bottom lip, drinking in Camille's persuasion without realising it was such. She had always been a sucker for flattery.

"It is true. Congratulations, you have won my intrigue. But what is your proposal?"

"You help me kill Raphael Santiago. Just the life of one vampire."

"And in return…?"

"I will crush the children of the Institute, every one of them."

Camille's face was mere inches away, her eyes lit with desire for revenge, the elation of her plan coming into action that hummed through her body.

"It will be done."

And they sealed it with a kiss.

A kiss that blazed, not from any emotional attachment, but the promise of blood, betrayal, revenge. A brief, hot friction of lips, smooth skin, long rambling hair of red and blonde tangling together; fueled by cruel passion.

When Camille left, she left satisfied. She no longer needed Alec Lightwood, and after the little _display _in the mundane supermarket she no longer liked him. Now he was nothing but a pretty little toy; one she could use to destroy his parents, siblings, the backstabbing Daylighter, and most of all Magnus Bane.

It would be such beautiful _fun._ She couldn't wait to see it in action, her feverish excitement unsheathing the thin fangs from her moist gums, beading droplets of blood on her lower lip. The vampire flicked them away with her tongue, wishing it to be the blood of shadowhunters.

Now she needed to get Alec on side again; it could be easily done. And if need be, she could work on the others as well, not the girl with that gorgeous, biting gold electrum whip, or that insufferable Herondale-Lightwood-Morgenstern-Wayland boy, but the others. That foolish Daylighter would be the start. How could he think that he could cross Camille Belcourt?

The wanderer's mark may protect him from physical harm, but he could be manipulated, persuaded, and if that didn't work his mother, sister, or that red-headed shadowhunter-perfect.

The nasty, perfect idea glimmered in Camille's mind. Using Valentine's daughter would make for a delicious appetiser to Alexander's subjugacy.

**Is subjugacy a word? If not, it should be. This chapter wasn't planned like the others, it just sort of happened. And as for Camille kissing that bitch the Seelie Queen…well, the girls deserve to have fun for a change. ;) Because girls are brilliant! Hope you liked!**

**Love China, who is off to watch Lord of the Rings in preparation for a Maths exam. xxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	12. Sink of Honey

**Hey, me again. **

**To Bonnie; no worries. I'm sorry I sounded like a twat, thanks for reading regardless! 3**

**The thank you goes for everyone who reads this- I hope you like it :)**

**I don't own the Mortal Instruments, Tokio Hotel or Bill Kaulitz. (Though if I HAD to make out with someone of the male gender to save the universe, it would definitely be him! Only if the universe was at stake though. Otherwise, sorry males of the world, it's not gonna happen.)**

Clary's hair whipped about her face, slashing fiery streaks across her view of the park. Specifically, Jace. He was sprawled under a tree, a jacket pillowed under his head, sleeping uneasily. His rumpled golden hair was fluffed into a jagged mess as he tossed and turned, a little too pale, eyelids flickering. More bad dreams.

"No, please-" he whimpered, totally out of character. "Leave him alone!"

"Jace, honey?" Clary squeezed his tense, trembling bicep, urging him to wake. He didn't.

"No! Don't hurt him… don't hurt Alec!" She shook his shoulder, but Jace didn't open his eyes. "Get away from him, vampire, or I swear on the Angel I'll kill you!"

"Leave him. He won't wake. Not yet." Clary's head snapped up. Camille regarded her amusedly, piercing eyes cold and superior, hair fluttering like the feathers of a dead bird in the wind. "It is no ordinary dream."

"Stop it, whatever it is. Alec is Jace's parabatai, making him think something's happening to him is just cruel!"

"And what's really happening to him, that isn't cruel? Feeling the slow decay of his life slipping away, knowing that it could end at any time, while Magnus basks in eternal life, young and beautiful forever."

"What do you care about Alec?"

"I do not, not particularly; I am just pointing out what you have overlooked. Alexander _is_ being hurt. More so with every passing minute."

Clary looked down at her shoes. She liked Alec a great deal, but they didn't know each other overly well, and she didn't think of him that much. That said, it was obvious that Camille was right.

"Maybe. But why are you telling me this now, and what have you done to Jace?"

"Oh, he's just getting a little taste of what is to come. Call it payback, if you will, though I detest such modern terms. I prefer the term _revenge_."

In Taki's, Magnus leaned back in his chair, stretching his long, lithe body like a tired cat; arching his back so that his shirt rode up, displaying a strip of smooth caramel skin, the small shadow where hipbone gave way to the flat stomach sloping down the front of his skinny jeans. As he did so, a werewolf man at the next table choked on his coffee and hastily looked away; trying to pretend he hadn't been staring and causing a wicked grin to quirk up Magnus' lips.

He took a long, slow sip of his own frothy coffee, 'accidentally' leaving a smear of cream across his bottom lip, then licked it away indulgently, catching the werewolf's eye with a smirk. _What a tease,_ he thought, chuckling internally. He always had been that way.

A few minutes later, Magnus found himself musing whether to take Alexander to Germany or Italy next. He missed Italy, with its pounding sunshine and knack for fashion, but he hadn't been to Germany in ages, and Berlin was brilliant. Just as he had begun staging a mental spaghetti versus lebkuchen battle to decide, a shadow licked across his line of vision, alerting the distracted warlock to the presence of another. It was the werewolf he'd been teasing earlier.

"Hey, I'm James and I'd like it if you'd call me," he grinned, floppy blonde hair glinting in the lamplight. He was sort of cute. Nothing on Alec.

"Sorry darling, but I'm spoken for."

"He wouldn't have to know."

"_Really _spoken for, by a rather jealous shadowhunter. He would quite literally hunt you down and slaughter you, and frankly that would be wasting a delectable McQueen jacket." Magnus gestured to the jacket appreciatively, setting down his coffee and making to leave.

"Wait. Are you Magnus Bane?" Magnus narrowed his eyes.

"The Magnificent High Warlock, yes." The werewolf leaned closer, concern surging over his previously playful features.

"Then you know the vampire, the one who walks in sunlight."

"We are acquainted." Magnus was puzzled. What did a random werewolf want with Ratboy?

"Well, tell him to watch his back. Especially at that big vampire meeting tonight." He tried to walk away, brushing against Magnus as he did so, but the warlock clicked and he found tendrils of blue fire pushing him down into the vacant chair opposite. Magnus sat too, playful tone utterly abandoned, ignoring the indignant eyes.

"I am aware of the meeting, though I did not think the Daylighter would attend."

"I heard he is. And that obnoxious leader of theirs…what's his name? Young-looking, dark hair, kind of sexy-"

"Raphael?"

"Yeah, that one. I heard he's planning to get the Daylighter alone afterward, and kill him. With poison, apparently."

"Your source?"

"If anyone asks, I didn't tell you, okay? But a friend of mine in the Praetor Lupus is investigating a new vamp in the Dumont, he hears a lot of things others don't."

Magnus bit his lip, still sweet from the sugary coffee. This was _bad_. The Mark of Cain protected against physical attacks, but poison? It wasn't worth the risk.

"Well, thank you James. I'll see to it he doesn't succeed." With a snap of his fingers, the werewolf was released from the chair, but he didn't leave. He gently gripped Magnus' arm, worry clouding his pale blue eyes.

"Be careful. I mean it. Vamps can get really nasty, and a hotel full of them…just remember to look out for yourself. You're cute." He ran his rough fingers down to Magnus' hand, lightly stroking his palm. "Very, very cute. Sure you can't call me?"

The warlock untangled his hand and stood, glitter sprinkling their table.

"Very, very sure. But that guy over there?" he gestured to a foxy blue-eyed werewolf in a long coat, sitting across the restaurant, reading a Downworld newspaper. "He was _totally_ checking you out."

He left without another word, tossing down some money for the coffee and striding out onto the street, hurrying to the Institute. Alec needed to hear about this 'plan' of Raphael's.

Clary still wasn't sure why Camille had wanted to talk to her, or what she meant, or how she'd given Jace that nightmare but she'd left them alone. Jace had woken, but he looked shaken, skin the colour of cigarette ash stirred into milk. Clary held him close, wishing she could take away his pain.

"Camille had Alec…" he murmured into her hair, laboured breaths hot Clary's ear. "She was- she was forcing him to- _drink blood_."

"Shh, Jace, it's okay, it was just a dream," _A taste of what is to come,_ the vampire had said. What could that mean?

"She was biting him, and the blood-" shaky breath. "It was all over him-" shaky breath. "His blood and hers-" shaky breath. "And Alec was screaming; like I've never heard him before, even worse than after he fought with Abbadon…"

Cold wind stung Clary's skin, peppered with tiny beads of moisture. Rain was coming.

"Come on, Jace. Let's get you home. Alec will be there, and you'll see that he's fine. Besides, Camille could never hurt him, not with you, Izzy and Magnus looking out for him. And me and Simon, not that we'd be much help, but she'd never be able to, Jace. You'd never let her."

Jace's eyes were cold and flat, shining but not alive, like the surface of a glass of apple juice.

"I've let him down before. Who's to say I won't do it again?"

Alec's room at the Institute was pleasant but plain. A vast, unmade bed dominated it, lying just under a large window through which light streamed like white water, spilling into the room and casting shadows on the rumpled duvet. The desk next to it was littered with countless books and coffee cups, and on the opposite side of the room a sturdy wardrobe that had been left half open, a jumbled mess of sweaters and shadowhunting gear visible inside. The only real colour in sight was Magnus, an oasis in the proverbial desert.

He didn't mind the scruffiness at all, his apartment was only ever tidied with magic, when he had guests; in fact he liked the disarray, it showed Alec was comfortable with him. They never bothered to clean up for each other anymore.

Alec lay, eyes closed, with his head in Magnus' lap, quietly enjoying the feeling of the warlocks' slender fingers twining in his hair, and the sound of a Tokio Hotel song drifting in through his window from an apartment nearby.

"I love Tokio Hotel," he mused sleepily "Their lead singer is hot. Not as hot as you…although you kind of look similar." Magnus grinned.

"He said that, actually. And you would like them Alexander, they speak German." Alec opened his eyes, bright blue streaked with black from under his long lashes.

"You've met Bill Kaulitz?"

"Yes, when he was doing a shoot for German Vogue. He asked to borrow my eyeliner and- actually, you don't need to know the rest." He was afraid that Alec would scowl, as he sometimes did when people from the past were mentioned, but he just chuckled.

"You and him in the same bed; that's like a bed of honey!"

"Well technically it wasn't a bed…more of a sink, but 'sink of honey' just doesn't sound as good!"

Alec laughed and brushed their fingertips together, so lightly it was like the touch of a butterfly, but enough to make Magnus' heart contract. He loved this boy too much for his own good. That's why he _had_ been thinking about immortality- too much, though he'd never tell Alec that. When alone at night, he wouldn't be able to sleep, obsessing…but anyway, he needed to do what he came here to do. Tell the shadowhunters about Raphae's plan.

"Darling, I need to tell you something. No! No, stop worrying!" he added, when Alec sprang up, looking horrified. He pulled him back down, firmly but gently. "I'm fine, you're fine, it's okay. You know that big vampire meeting, the one that's happening tonight at the Dumont?"

"Of course. They always have one around this time of year, so the leaders can sort out any big problems they've got. Though I hear it usually turns into a we-hate-werewolves bitching session."

"Well, this guy tried to pick me up in Taki's earlier, and when I turned him down he was like 'are you Magnus Bane' and then he told me all this stuff about the meeting, stuff he heard from the Praetor. Stuff you need to know."

**Fin. Yes, Raphael is jumping on the mean-person bandwagon. Hope you enjoyed! **

**Love, China. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx P.S. The gold star stuck in my keyboard is currently residing under my 'l' key, so sorry if any are missing! xx**


	13. Not Even Remotely Magnus

**Hello again, I know it hasn't been long but I write as a break from revision, which incidentally will be over this time next week YAYYYY! There is another lemon this chapter…though it is not what one might expect… *cue OTT puzzled face* Enjoy, regardless, and let me know what you think!**

**And Zoe, I'd love it if you'd read this, but that thing we joked about happening after strictly come dancing happens :P Just warning you. (Sorry to anyone who thought 'wtf' looking at this!)**

As expected, the annual meeting of the New York vampire leaders had turned into a we-hate-werewolves bitching session. Simon Lewis had sat, quiet and uncomfortable, through the whole thing, ignoring the stares of what seemed to be the whole community; varying from disgusted to wistful. They all knew who he was.

The meeting was held in the vast, once-grand foyer of the Hotel Dumont. Sickly, odd-smelling candles flickered, dotted around the room, casting an odd, ethereal light onto the blank white faces, drawing a feral gleam from nocturnal eyes.

_They're vampire candles, _echoed a voice in Simon's head. _Made from the wax of Hazlin demons. Having real fire at a vampire convention would be like fire at an oil slick. _

It wasn't, however, the first sign of madness, but Magnus Bane. Simon had been walking there when Alec and Magnus had arrived and explained the situation, offering to help him however they could. Magnus had quickly established a temporary psychic link between them, so that he could keep an eye on the night's events, and be ready to send in Alec if Raphael tried anything. Now that the meeting was over, it was likely he'd make him move soon.

Simon sighed, half in worry and half in amusement. He felt like he was in a bad spy movie.

"Daylighter." Raphael's voice snaked into Simon's ears, an odd hiss escaping from between his fangs. "A word, in my private chambers."

_Okay Ratboy, either this is it, or he's making a move on you. We should've given you a rape whistle._

He ignored Magnus and nodded stiffly, wondering how Alec would save him if things got dangerous. How would he even get in? Simon doubted the Manhattan clan would take too kindly to him just barging in; but then again, he was a shadowhunter. If he said Simon was needed by the Clave or something, Raphael would probably let him go. But would he try again?

_Stop worrying. Alec will distract him, giving you time to slip away, and if he tries again, then we'll just stop him again. He may be powerful politically, but I've heard he's not much of a fighter. Alec could take him down easily… he's almost as good in a fight as he is in bed, and that's good._

Ohhh, no! Simon did _not_ want that mental image. He opened his mouth indignantly when Raphael turned with a curious glance.

"Is there a problem, Daylighter?"

"Oh, no. No problem. Where are we going, anyway?"

Raphael's chambers turned out to be what had once been an expensive suite, but unlike the rest of the hotel it hadn't fallen into disrepair. Simon was beckoned into a spacious living room, and was struck by how normal it was. He didn't know what he'd been expecting; darkness, coffins, maybe some festering animal bones, but it was just a regular room. He tended to forget that other vampires were human, just as he was. The only odd thing was that after they had both entered, the door melted away like wax in the vampire candles. Fuck.

"Sit down, Daylighter. You look like you could use a drink." Had Simon had a heartbeat, it would have raced, palms sweating, but he stayed cold, pale and still despite his fear.

_Relax. I'm sending Alec in now._

Simon felt the psychic connection break, and hoped it was due to Magnus and not just an accident. Suddenly, he was very aware of his surroundings, every whisper of air, every distant chatter of vampire voices, every growl of engines outside the hotel. When would Alec arrive?

Knock knock.

The knock reverberated through the room, skittering off every surface before clambering into Simon's ears, startling him. Who's there?

"Enter!" Raphael's call came from the kitchen, where he was supposedly getting glasses of blood. One of them safe, the other poisoned, he supposed; hoping Alec would come before he had to drink it. With his approval, the door reappeared, and through it stepped Alec.

"Hey, Simon." He gave an awkward grin, very pale in the candlelight- he would have looked almost like a vampire himself, had it not been for the life that poured out of him; his _life_ was in every move he made, from the curl of his fingers to the ripple of his hair to the unconscious sway of his slender hips- whoa there, Simon thought. Alec probably thought he was checking him out or something, and was glad Magnus hadn't heard the thought, or he'd be in big trouble. Possibly turned into a camel, or a piece of cheese. Would he be a vampire camel? Simon hastily ended his nervous mental babbling.

"Alright Alec." The shadowhunter seemed to catch the tension underlying his words, for he nodded, quickly averting his eyes as Raphael returned.

"Nephillim. What brings you to my territory?"

"I just, uh, wondered if I could have a word with you… in private."

The sort-of clan leader looked puzzled, turning his dark, flat eyes on Simon, a brief violent flash colouring their depths.

"Very well, I suppose the Clave does not like to wait. We will have this chat another day, Daylighter. I will send for you."

He gestured Alec to follow him into another room, leaving Simon alone. The only problem was, how could he get out?

Alec followed the vampire into a dim, candlelit room that appeared to be Raphael's main living space; a couch, a bed, a coffee table, and to his surprise, an Xbox: frozen on the image of Underworld. He suppressed a grin; how appropriate. Still, he was a little unsettled by the candlelight- it seemed to be the normal vampire lighting, but for him it conjured memories of Magnus' room on hot, hot nights-

His expression must have changed at the memory, because Raphael cocked his head, looking at him curiously.

"I know that look, the one in your eyes. You're not here on Clave business, are you?" Alec froze, unsure of how to continue. "I thought not." The vampire chuckled softly, a shrill, cold sound that sent a shiver down Alec's spine. "Ahh, I see. It must be hard for you, Alexander, lusting after first a warlock, and now a vampire…but that's okay. I won't tell."

Fuck. Alec was clueless. What in Raziel's name could he do? He needed to distract Raphael for long enough so that Simon could get out of the hotel and back to the Institute… but he seemed to think- no. Why would he think that? He must've misinterpreted Raphael's words.

"Um, I don't think-"

"Shh," An icy cold finger pressed into his lips, dark eyes dancing with a dead sort of heat, and regarded Alec hungrily, like a tasty cake he was about to tuck into. "Relax. You'll enjoy it, I promise."

Oh God. What could he do? He didn't know whether Simon was out yet, or how to make an exit without seeming suspicious. The vampire trailed a sinuous tongue down his throat, tingling pleasantly. There was only one thing he could do…play along. Until Simon was safe, and then Magnus would come and get him. Right?

Suddenly, Raphael slammed him into the wall, clawing at his shirt and tearing it off, rubbing every inch of their bodies together with a hot, delicious friction that teased a moan from Alec despite how wrong it was.

Raphael revelled in the shadowhunter's clear blue eyes turning dark, midnight navy flooding in to eclipse the brightness like the sea before a storm. Running his fingers lightly over the defined chest and abs, he thanked whatever gods he could think of for such a golden opportunity; the boy was gorgeous. He attacked Alec's neck with his lips, sucking ravenously on the hot, smooth flesh, trailing down his chest until he reached the waistband of his jeans, teasing the zipper down with his razor-sharp fangs, Alec squirming under the firm grip of his hands on his muscular thighs.

As the rest of his clothes slid to the floor, Alec pulled Raphael back up.

"Wait. Please, I can't-" Raphael silenced him with a feverish kiss, biting the bottom lip until blood trickled into his own mouth.

"Shut up."

He swept him up and threw the shadowhunter roughly onto his bed, impatiently kicking off his own clothes and stumbling over to shove Alec down with a firm hand, clambering on top. "Fuck, you're hot," he murmured into his neck, fighting the urge to bite down hard on the pulsing vein that snaked down his pale throat.

"Raphael-"

"Don't talk." He kissed him again insistently, sliding hands over every inch of the boy he could reach; hot skin quivering under his eager touch, this was _fun_. It had been far too long since he was with a man this way, and Alexander was _lovely_, so warm and absolutely delicious. Raphael ground his straining cock against Alec's, ripping a throaty moan from them both, and the shadowhunter clutched his hips in a death grip, urging him on at last, pupils dilated with pitch-black lust that threatened to swallow up the iris entirely.

He reached into the bedside table for a bottle of lube, scratching his nails across Alec's chest as he did so, causing him to throw back his head and extend his strong, vulnerable throat, adams apple bobbing just below the surface of his pale, damp skin. The urge to bite, rip it open was so strong that Raphael tore open the cap with his teeth by way of distraction, noting how Alec's tongue flicked out appreciatively, eagerly.

After liberally coating himself, he slid in between Alec's legs, making him wince a little, before wrapping a slender leg around his waist and growling, which Raphael took as encouragement to pull out almost fully and then slam back in, repeating the action until Alec was moaning and writhing beneath him, black spots distorting his vision as his prostate was struck repeatedly.

"Fuuuck, you feel so_ good_," he groaned, biting at the chain that dangled from the vampire's throat, the one that normally sported the crucifix he wore to visit his family, then nipping at the scar the holy symbol had seethed into his skin.

They were both close, sweat-slicked flesh burning up, thrusts growing erratic, until Alec came with a sigh, Raphael seconds later with a shaky growl, fangs tearing open his own lip and drizzling shockingly red blood onto Alec's collarbone, where it splashed wetly, and onto his closed mouth and eyelids, soaking into the creases of his swollen lips.

It was only when Alec pulled the other man's body close, to find it slighter than usual and rapidly cooling, when what he'd conveniently forgotten in the heat of the moment hit him. Not Magnus. Not even remotely. What had he done?

Another conveniently forgotten thing was Simon. Simon, who didn't know how to get out, and had heard the whole thing.

**Oh dear. I hope you lot appreciate the obscene amount of awkwardness I go through to give you lemons. It was extra awkward because while I was writing this, on a vodka-fuelled whim, someone downstairs was playing 'Karma Chameleon', so whenever I'd stop to think I'd hear it, and then start laughing to myself. Let me know what you think, whether you want more lemons or not.**

**Je t'aime. Seriously, if I didn't love you I wouldn't write stuff like this.**

**Love China. **


	14. Fish Fingers in a Box

**Hello there… thank you to everyone who reviewed, especially ClairelovesMalec! :)**

**Please don't hate Alec for what happened last chapter, he never meant for it and he is really, really sorry! **

Alec left the bedroom, leaving Raphael asleep, feeling not only physically icky- he was desperate for a shower- but disgusted with himself. He fully expected shame, guilt, anger and disappointment- but he wasn't expecting Simon Lewis. Standing in front of him, looking extremely awkward, hands in his pockets and eyes darting around as though he wished he was anywhere but there. Alec guessed that made two of them.

"Alec… look, man-"

"Please, just-" Alec lowered his startlingly blue eyes, the colour just visible through his thick fringe of lashes. "Don't."

Simon looked relieved, but a seed of concern was still visible on his pale face.

"The door sort of, melts in and out of existence, we can't get out."

"Jesus vampire, you didn't think of breaking a window?" He scurried to the window, preparing to smash it, then looked at it thoughtfully and tried the latch. It swung open easily, a breath of cool night air rushing onto his face, setting his dark hair fluttering. It smelled of night-time, city streets, and rain. He swivelled his lithe form up and out onto the ledge, wincing a little, which caused Simon to look away, and a blush skitter down the sharp slopes of Alec's cheekbones, followed by a feeling of nausea. How could he have let that obnoxious, murderous- he snapped out of the train of thought, tears stabbing the backs of his blood-stained eyelids. The chill felt good, refreshing- though he couldn't enjoy it- lessening the discomfort of the clothes clinging to his sticky skin; sticky with sweat and blood, which he didn't mind after demon hunting, but now it made him want to throw up. "Come on, Simon, let's go." He choked back a sob.

Simon hurried over, and tried to put a hand on Alec's shoulder, but the feel of the cold, vampire fingers on his body only made him feel worse, and he jerked away. "Sorry, Simon. It's not you." He sniffed, tiny beads of almost-rain dribbling down his hairline as if the sky was crying for him. Or for Magnus.

"Look, I know you don't want to talk about it-"

"I don't."

"Neither do I Alec, but I heard what happened and it wasn't your fault-"

"Of course it was my fault! I let him- I let that _thing, _who was going to _murder_ you, I let him fuck me, and that's not my fault?"

"You tried to stop him, I heard you."

"Not hard enough, apparently. I could have stopped him, Simon. You know I could."

With that, he jumped. A graceful arrow cleaving the damp, dark air, hitting the ground lightly and on his toes. Swallowing nervously, Simon followed suit. Although he and Alec had never gotten that close, he liked him. He thought of the shadowhunter as a sort-of friend, and hoped they could get to know each other better, but Alec was quite a hard person to do that with. He was pretty closed off, less so since coming out of the closet, but still, and Simon suspected he'd never put much effort into their friendship because he'd noticed Simon's feelings for his sister. But he liked Alec, and it was awful to see him like this- sort of hollow, like one of those Russian dolls, but with nothing inside. He couldn't begin to understand how the other boy felt, but he knew it must be terrible.

Alec was already stalking along the pavement ahead, streetlamps throwing over him a harsh, synthetic light that reduced him all to sharp angles and bruiselike hollows, glistening in the tears he was trying so hard to hide.

"Come back, man. Seriously. I know we've never been close, but you can talk to me. I mean it." Alec turned, surprised, eyes an unsettling orange-black under the streetlights, and held out a hand for Simon to shake. He took it firmly, clasping Alec's hand tighter than he normally would. "It doesn't have to be now, or even this week, but the offer stands. And right now, you need to get home."

"I can't go home. Magnus is there."

"There's a couch at mine, if you're sure."

"I'm sure. I don't want him touching me. Or to see me, not like this."

"You will tell him, won't you?"

"I'll have to, eventually. But I don't know wh- oh, Simon? Thank you. I mean it."

"Any time."

"Then let's stop with this soppy crap. Where do you live?"

They took the subway to the apartment that Simon shared with Jordan, who wasn't there. Probably out with Maia. Their roommate relationship was an easy one; they got along well but gave each other space, they had similar interests but not so far that they never shut up, and neither were into partying, ergo making lots of noise as to offend the other. Simon knew having Alec over would be no problem- it was the people in the Institute he was worried about, they'd be frantic if Alec hadn't come home, because Magnus was there with them: but then again, he was an adult. They could call if they were that concerned. Reassured, Simon made up the lumpy couch with some spare blankets, letting Alec take a shower.

In Simon and Jordan's bathroom, Alec caught sight of his face, briefly, in the mirror. His dark, jaw length hair lay straggly and damp against skin the colour of porridge: its' usual smooth pallor washed out by the flaky, half-congealed blood that sullied his face. His bottom lip was split and painful, gashed open wider than ever before, and he couldn't meet his own eyes. Alec looked like he felt.

Fumbling in empty pockets for his stele, he realised it was gone. Left in the Dumont. There was no way in hell he was going back for it. So, no iratze.

The pounding jets of hot water stung, scrubbed away the blood and dirt from Alec's skin, but after the shower he still felt dirty, and incapable of doing anything but sleeping.

He really, really didn't want to put his clothes back on, and didn't know where he might find fresh ones, but Simon had gone bed already, and Alec didn't want to disturb him. Still, he needed something to sleep in. Wrapping the only available towel around his slim waist- a faded 'Star Wars' one- he knocked tentatively on what he hoped was Simon's door.

"Simon? It's, uh, Alec,"

The door cracked open, revealing the vampire, with sleep-mussed hair and blue-black shadows under his eyes. It had obviously been a while since he'd fed or slept.

"Hey man, I- oh!" His eyes widened at Alec's state of undress, lingering for a second on the bruises mottling his skin; shaped like harsh, clutching vampire fingers. "You need some clothes, huh?"

"Yeah. I mean, sorry to disturb you-"

"No worries," Simon hastily scoured his closet for something suitable- Alec was very tall, and muscular despite his slightness, whereas Simon was of average height and rather skinny, having been frozen by vampirism before maturing fully, a fact he quietly resented. "I'm sure I've got something."

Eventually digging out a baggy t-shirt (that said 'Keep Calm and Call The Doctor'above a picture of a TARDIS) and some sweatpants, he handed them over to Alec, who slipped quietly away with a murmur of thanks.

Lying back down on his bed, Simon tried unsuccessfully to kick the thought of blood from his mind. He could feel it; slippery scarlet skin beneath his lips, the coppery tang of- _ouch._ His fangs slammed painfully into his lower lip, drawing the only blood of no interest to him: his own. Simon didn't want to get up and retrieve one of his blood bottles, he wanted to sleep, but it was becoming increasingly hard not to-

"Simon?" Alec nudged the door slightly, giving him ample time to protest if necessary. "I brought you some blood, you looked really hungry, and-"

"You don't want to be on your own right now, do you?" Alec's eyes were trained on the carpet, blush tinting his pale cheeks as he admitted this was the case. "It's fine, come sit down. And thanks for the blood, I was beginning to feel a bit Dracula."

Alec looked confused, but sat beside him on the bed, and Simon couldn't help but reflect on how weird it should have been, yet the shadowhunter looked so fragile he wasn't sure that anything _counted_, as strange as it sounded, as real life.

"I'm sorry, I can go, you look really tired," Alec started, but Simon just lay back and looked up at the ceiling, sipping from the bottle of blood.

"Seriously, don't worry." Both boys were silent for a while, lying platonically side by side like fish fingers in a box. Then a look of thoughtfulness crossed Simon's face, and he said "When my sister was about fifteen or so, she got drunk at a party. This guy she knew was coming on to her, and she made it clear she wasn't interested, but he carried on anyway, and she didn't push him away- she didn't really know why, but afterwards she just felt so used, and like she didn't matter at all." Alec's eyes slipped shut, not with sleep, but as if he was thinking. "They had been quite good friends, but she couldn't even look at him anymore, and he never understood why, because you know, she hadn't pushed him away, but it didn't make any difference to how she felt." Alec made an odd, quiet noise. "She told me all of this, but never anyone else, I guess because she knew I wouldn't judge her, or blame her, and I don't know if what you feel is the same Alec, but if it's similar then you should know that people who really know, or care about you, won't think of you any different, even if you feel that you are."

Simon closed his eyes, and found thoughts of blood giving way to the tendrils of peaceful sleep that were slowly snaking into his thoughts and senses. It was a pleasant feeling.

"Why are you being so nice, and helping me?" Alec asked in a small, similarly sleepy voice.

"Of course I'd help you when you need it. People want to help you all the time; Izzy, Jace, all of us really. The only difference now is that you're letting me. And I guess," he mused, voice dropping to such a low whisper Alec wasn't sure if he'd heard, or was meant to hear. "I'd have wanted someone to do the same for my sister."

They didn't talk any more that night, just slipped into slumber like two children at a sleepover.

"C'mon, get up you lazy infidel!" Simon woke to Jordan yelling from outside his door. "I'm making coffee, you want some?"

"Shut up, glittery bastard," came a murmur. Simon jolted, startled for a moment to see Alec next to him, before remembering the events of the previous night. Jordan rammed on the door again, making Simon feel like Harry Potter when the Dursleys rapped on the door of his cupboard under the stairs. Alec spoke louder. "Baby, I wanna sleeeep."

Simon wrestled with the urge to laugh at Alec mistaking Jordan for Magnus.

"What?" Uh-oh. Simon supposed the werewolf had heard, and thought his roommate had called him 'Baby'. The door opened, revealing Jordan, whose eyes grew wide in shock. "Whoa, um, sorry guys, I didn't-"

Alec shot upright, startled, his black hair in disarray, sticking up at odd angles around his face.

"Oh! Um, hi Jordan…this isn't what it looks like…" Simon decided to help out.

"Alec needed somewhere to crash- just as friends, look, we're fully clothed!" He gestured wildly, all three of them starting to laugh.

"It's cool, it's cool. Just gave me a bit of a surprise, is all." Jordan grinned. "So, you want coffee too, Alec?"

"That'd be great." The shadowhunter smiled gratefully, and when Jordan had bustled off he turned to Simon. "Thanks for everything, last night I mean. I guess I needed…someone to lean on. I'm okay now."

"It's no problem, man."

They shared a look.

"Friends?"

"Friends."

They fist-bumped quickly, grinning like awkward idiots. Simon felt the need to break the soppy 'bromance' mood.

"My bed is always open to-"

"Oh, you wish." Alec shot back, reaching up a slender, toned arm to ruffle the back of his dark hair, a permanent mark coiling the length of his bicep. Simon wondered what it meant.

"It's 'confidence to trust'." He said, catching the line of Simon's gaze. "The rune. Clary made it, and put it on me the other day. Apparently she thought I could use it." Simon nodded.

"Right, I need to brush my teeth. You can borrow some more of my clothes, and uh, I'll go over to the Institute with you, if you want. I'll be over later anyway, but if-"

"It's cool, I can go. I need to stop by Magnus' on the way, to brush my teeth and change." Worry clouded over his eyes, turning the blue to a deep indigo that matched the TARDIS on his shirt. "He'll have stayed in my room at the Institute, waiting for me to get back." Once again, Alec turned dangerously pale. "I don't know what I'll tell him."

"Don't worry. You don't have to tell him right away. But do you both a favour?"

"What?"

"Be honest with him."

Alec nodded, biting at his bottom lip, then wincing as his teeth dug into the tender, barely-healed flesh, and remembered with horror that he'd left his stele in the Dumort. But nothing could be done now.

**There. Done. I always thought of Simon as being the kind of guy who'd understand if someone needed help, but he might be a bit OOC. So I hope you guys understand Alec a bit more now :S poor thing. Let me know.**

**Love, China. **


	15. You Should Start Charging

**Hello darlings! I'd like to say a huge, bug-eyed glittery thank you to all reviewers! You are so amazingly supportive- I wanted to reply to you all, but these past two weeks have been exam season (rette mich!) so I have been tres tres busy. But your comments have not gone unnoticed; je t'aime to the power of seven. I mean it, I love you!**

**My last exam is tomorrow :D but I won't publish this tonight so when you read it I'll be freeeeeee! Freer than a potato on an escalator! BUT- the fly in le moutarde, it's raining. Fucking England.**

**Sorry to ramble, enjoy.**

The Institute towered over Alec, and as he gazed up at it, white light streaming in and burning his blue eyes, it seemed as though the edifice was about to fall on top of him. Part of him wished it would. Then he wouldn't have to go in and try to look his family- not to mention his boyfriend- in the eyes, knowing what he'd done. It was a strange feeling, because Alec could remember it all, though it made his stomach churn- every unwelcome finger on the base of his spine, every flick of horrid wet tongue on his neck- yet it had felt at the time like he hadn't even been there, like it was happening to someone else and he was just a spectator. Not that it changed anything. He had still cheated on Magnus, the man he loved more than anything and was lucky to have even glance his way.

Taking a deep, shaky breath and feeling the cold grey air spiral into his lungs, Alec stepped through the door and into the lift. The barred structure made him feel even more caged.

As the lift dinged, alerting the Institute's inhabitants to his presence, the doors slid open and Alec was greeted by Church's accusing eyes. They blazed like tiny explosions in the fluffy face as if to say '_And where have you be__en?_' He leaned down to pet the cat, who relaxed at the touch of his pale, slender fingers ruffling the soft fur, purring like Magnus when paid a compliment.

Alec straightened up quickly, pushing the hair back out of his eyes. He must be going crazy or something, he thought, he had just compared his cat to his boyfriend.

As he did so, Alec noticed the door leading to his mother's office was ajar, soft yellow light spilling out through the gap, carrying with it the low hum of voices, and he padded over to peer curiously in, to the room he had only ever entered in times of great importance. Otherwise, it was a strictly private space.

Inside, Maryse was engaged in quiet conversation with a squashy green armchair that wasn't normally there; it faced away so that he could see his mother's face, but not the individual sitting in it- Alec's breath caught in his throat as he registered the shimmering array of black spikes peeping over the top, unmistakably Magnus' hair.

"Alec?" He whirled around, startled at being caught spying on his mother. It was Isabelle, her hair loose and flowing, looking tired in a silky pink robe and free of makeup. "What are you doing?" He urged her down the corridor and into the main living room, not wanting Maryse or Magnus to hear them, or realize they were there.

"Izzy. What's going on?"

"What's going on where, Alec, what are you talking about, it's too early in the morning." She groggily shuffled her bare feet.

"It's nearly ten, Isabelle."

"Well sorry, _Mum._" She stuck out her tongue in the childish manner they only ever used with each other. "What do you mean what's going on?"

"With Magnus, idiot, why is he in Mum's office?"

"I didn't know he was. I only just got up, see?" She gestured to the robe, her bare feet and unbrushed hair. "Why don't _you _know? Didn't he tell you?" Alec fiddled with a thread dangling from his sleeve, twiddling it between his fingers.

"Well, no, because I didn't exactly…come home last night, so I haven't seen him-"

"How could you not come home, what were you doing?" Her coffee-brown eyes narrowed in suspicion, raking him over as if searching for evidence.

"I stayed the night at Simon's." He said simply; there'd be time for the full story later, he couldn't bring himself to tell her now.

"Alexander Lightwood, I don't know what's going on with you," she pointed an accusing, scarlet-nailed finger at his face "But if you don't tell me by the end of the day, you're screwed. I mean it."

Alec knew he was screwed whether he told Izzy or not.

With a stare that could gut a diamond, she flounced away to get dressed, making 'I'm watching you' motions at her brother.

After a while, Simon turned up, nodding at Alec and scooting to sit beside Izzy on a wine-coloured couch. Magnus and Maryse, to everyone's communal surprise, soon joined them, and the casual chatting stopped. Maryse's glares could freeze coffee at the best of times; now she looked even more severe than usual- but possibly more startling was Magnus, or more accurately, the absence of his usual electric grin.

Alec stood up, unfurling his long limbs, and made to kiss him, but Magnus turned his head quickly so that Alec's lips met his cheek. Alec's insides froze: did he already know? How could he? Magnus _never_ denied a hello kiss; usually he jumped him on arrival wherever they met, including a Clave meeting, a crowded library, and a public bathroom, which Alec had stuttered uncomfortably at. He didn't even like to _breathe _in public bathrooms, let alone make out, and avoided them like the plague whenever possible.

Simon, Alec and Maryse looked uncomfortable, Isabelle confused, and Magnus strangely blank, like a 'Where's Wally' suddenly turned completely white.

Out of his purple blazer pocket, Magnus drew a stele that glinted coldly, pale and stark against his fallen-leaf-coloured digits. It was the stele Alec had left in the Dumont. He held it out for Alec to take, which he did, not meeting each other's eyes.

Fuck.

Alec fancied he could feel the weight of the polluted atmosphere; bearing down from all angles, squashing, compacting, suffocating him. Isabelle's eyes flicked from Simon to her mother to her brother to his boyfriend and found no-one looking back at her, so she raised a deceptively delicate hand.

"Now would be a great time for someone to tell me what the _hell_ is going on." She glared, eyes blazing like the surface of her whip as it sliced through the air, her gaze just as biting and deadly. Magnus stormed from the room in a whirl of glitter, and blue flames that shot from each of his fingertips. "Somebody? Are Alec and Magnus fighting?"

"Uh, we haven't really had the chance to, yet-"

"But we will be." Came Magnus' voice, from the doorway.

"Ahem." Maryse shot Alec a chilly look. "Alexander, your business is your own. I won't interfere, but needless to say I am _not_ impressed with you." With that she left the room, squeezing Magnus' shoulder briefly on her way past and leaving Alec with a feeling he imagined was similar to that of a worm, having been stabbed with a hook, thrown into cold water, and about to be devoured by fish. He tried to cross the room's threshold to get to Magnus, but-

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"

"Magnus, please, talk to me. Please." Alec's voice was soft, echoing a sadness that seemed to come from somewhere within his soul. Magnus, who had been expecting him to fight fire with fire, looked surprised; yellow-green eyes scrutinising his boyfriend with a mixture of anger and concern.

"By the Angel, will someone enlighten me, please?" Izzy moaned. "Is it about that vampire meeting last night?" Alec's spine stiffened. "Alec, did you kill a warlock or something? Because if you did, that sucks, but we all have to do things we don't like for the shadowhunter cause-"

This, it seemed, rekindled the embers of Magnus' animosity. He snorted.

"Oh, well, that's alright then; Alexander is _so_ dedicated, I hear he'll do anything for the cause. Or anyone. He's all about taking one for the team." A scrumpled paper missile spat out of Magnus' hand, and Alec caught it reflexively. It was a note, in pretentiously swirly yet masculine writing.

_High Warlock Bane,  
Your shadowhunter left his stele in my hotel, so I am returning it to you.  
Speaking of which, tell him to call me- he was rather good.  
He can even stick around for longer next time if he desires, leaving me like that was just plain rude.  
But I'll forgive him because he's SO pretty.  
Sincerely, Raphael Santiago.  
P.S. Now we're even._

Izzy peered around Alec's shoulder to read it, and drew back, horrified.

"Yes," Magnus continued, with the air of someone needing to vent. "I suppose he's doing his bit for shadowhunter-downworlder relations, but who knew it would be so damn _easy_!" Alec flinched like a kicked animal, and Simon felt the urge to comfort his friend, but didn't know how. Why wasn't Alec saying anything? "Ugh, Alexander, I can't even look at you right now!"

"Hey, that isn't fair!" Everyone's heads swivelled round almost comically to stare incredulously at Simon. He couldn't blame them. He was surprised with himself. "Magnus, you weren't there and you don't know anything about what happened, so lay off Alec until he's explained, okay? And Alec, you told me you'd be honest with him, remember?" The towering, power-crackling warlock looked stunned but said nothing, and Alec threw Simon a smile; it was weak, stretched, but a fierce gratitude blazed in the eyes behind it.

The vampire nodded and steered an oddly frozen Isabelle from the room, leaving behind a frosty silence so thick that just breathing was like sucking in butter.

"So, care to explain then, Alexander? Did you not, in fact, sleep with Santiago as implied?" Alec felt as though Magnus' eyes had him pinned to the wall: never before had they looked at him like that, a hard shell of anger, and below that- raw, burning hurt, a hurt that _he _had caused. That was the worst part. He said nothing. "No? Because your sudden BFF Simon seems to think that there's something I don't know, because I wasn't there, so tell me, why was he there?"

"He, uh, he couldn't get out of the hotel…so I got him out… after. I stayed at his because I couldn't-"

"Stayed on the couch, huh?"

"Well, bed, but nothing happened I swear, we just-"

"Wow Alec, three men's beds in one day, you should start charging." The remarks hurt Alec more than any seraph blade or demon ichor, especially cruel coming from _Magnus_, sweet, lovely, understanding Magnus, who didn't deserve such a fuckup as himself.

"Simon and I did nothing but sleep!"

"So you say, but how can I trust you? How can I trust you now, you already admitted you bedded one vampire, is one not enough for you? Might as well see what Simon's got to offer, since your boyfriend isn't good enough for you!"

"Magnus, that isn't why- how can you even think that? I love you, I just, I can't explain it. I can't. You just have to trust me-"

"The fuck you can! What the hell is going on with you, Alec? Just tell me."

"I can't. I'm sorry, I deserve you yelling, I deserve you hating me, I just," he seemed to shrink a little, as if by making himself smaller he could get away from the confrontation. "Can't." he worried at the still-sore bottom lip, gooey with semi-congealed blood, voice so low Magnus could barely hear it. "Are you going to break up with me?"

"Of course I'm not going to break up with you!" Magnus stared wildly, as if Alec were criminally insane. "We're going to talk about this, and-" he broke off, a terrible thought striking him. "Wait, you're not going to talk, are you?" Magnus' eyes hardened with resolution, a grim look slathered across his features. "In that case Alec, I am so, so sorry about this."

With a blinding, electric flash, a bolt of magic shot for Alec's head, and, it seemed to him, that the Universe disappeared with a pop.

**More coming soon. Let me know what you think. Love China. **


	16. Hack Into Your Mind

**Hey there! So this is a mini chapter, sorry but I'm really busy! The next one will be longer and have the long-promised makeup sex :P Hopefully this answers any burning questions.**

**Thank you for sticking with me this long, I love you! And I just figured out how to make a line, look!**

* * *

When Alec came to, strange, clouded sounds swam across the black of his consciousness like he was underwater. What had happened? Magnus…he'd been arguing with Magnus, and- with a jolt, Alec opened his eyes, remembering his boyfriend's apology and the bolt of magic that had struck him.

He was laid out on the couch, in the same room he'd been when he and Magnus had argued, the cold fabric of rumpled clothes clinging to his skin. Magnus was slumped in the chair opposite, head in his hands.

"Magnus?" His head shot up, body unfurling fluidly and kneeling down beside Alec. "What just happened?"

"We talked."

"No, we didn't! You magicked me, what did you do, and why? I've had enough of people just doing what they want to me." Alec spat the words bitterly, Magnus' eyes widening in horror.

"Alec, I'm so sorry, that's not what I meant to do at all, I swear I'm nothing like him. Nothing like Raphael."

"You're not like him; I don't love him, I don't even like him, I love _y_ou. So tell me what you did, and why, right now."

"What I did, with the magic, was basically hack into your mind and see what happened. I didn't want to, but you wouldn't talk to me. Why didn't you just tell me what you were feeling?"

"I just felt like I couldn't, couldn't say anything to anyone, I didn't even want to think about it. Because it was my fault, I didn't try hard enough to stop it; I was just so confused, I didn't know what to do and I didn't know if Simon was safe and I thought that-"

"If he was, I'd come and get you." Something cracked in Magnus' voice. "But I just cut off the psychic link without even thinking."

"No, no, this is NOT your fault, not in any way!"

"It's not yours either. It's that stupid leech in the Dumont. He might never have done this if I hadn't been such an idiot…you see, we had a little disagreement, about forty years ago, and I won. I humiliated him in front of the clan, and he never got over it. That note was his way of telling me he'd gotten his own back."

"I'm so sorry Magnus." Alec slid a finger up the warlock's throat, tilting up his chin so that their eyes could meet. He smiled briefly at the touch, eyelashes fluttering like little black butterflies, as Alec's other hand joined in to gently cup his face. "I love you and only you. I will never, ever cheat on you again, I swear on the Angel."

"I know," Magnus grinned into his fingers, nudging their faces closer together "I saw it in your mind. And I will never, ever let anyone use you that way again, I swear on…the moon."

"Swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circled orb, lest that thy love prove likewise variable." Alec recited, the twinkle returned to his eyes. Magnus smiled radiantly, knotting his long fingers into Alec's hair.

"Baby, I will swear on anything you want; my life, my happiness, my future, it's all yours. When it comes to me, you already have everything. You are the only one who has or ever will make me feel like this, and if I lost you I would lose the only thing of any meaning in my 800 years of life."

"I don't deserve this, Magnus."

"That's where you're wrong. You do. And I don't care if that's what you believe, because I know the truth and as long as we're together I'll make sure you know it." Alec seized Magnus by the shoulders, crushing their bodies together in an embrace so close, so binding, he felt as though they could melt into each other at any time. "So there, I've told you what I've wanted to since you kissed me in the Accords Hall. You can tell me anything Alexander, because I'm not just anyone, and neither are you."

"Magnus, I thought I was going to lose you, and instead you go make me even more in love with you, if that's possible. Everything you said is perfect. You're perfect. I'm not so good with words as you, but I just know that you're it for me, no-one else could ever come close. I'm yours."

Magnus sat back so that his eyes could drink in every inch of his boyfriend. _His _shadowhunter. The sight made his mind buzz, his ribs tingle, his pulse drum out the rhythm of his heart. It didn't matter that Alec didn't know his real age, his real name, who his parents were, he knew that they loved each other more than anyone else.

He'd told Alec that he wasn't trivial, and it was the truth.

Their kiss was a simple, sweet one, but it still blew Alec's mind.

**Until next time.**

**Love China **** x**


	17. Jace Won't Be Happy

**Ahoy there you gorgeous people!** **SO SO sorry I've been gone so long! **** Let me know what you think; I'm paranoid of disappointing you.**

**A million billion 'thank you darling!'s to ClairelovesMalec, Meadow Frost and HikariMelody for coming to my rescue, this chapter is for you guys with MUCH love.**

**Thanks also go to Cassandra Clare, the real owner of these characters, Zoe (who can't read this) who put up with all my bitching to her, and Adam Lambert for the song 'Fever'. **

* * *

As Alec and Magnus had poured their hearts out, Simon had left to go to Clary's and Maryse had hurried back to Idris to see Robert.

Which meant no sarcastic vampires and no awkward parents lingering and spoiling the fun, and Magnus intended to have _lots _of fun. Now that he and Alec had sorted themselves out, in his mind it was most definitely time to sort each other out- in fact it was all he could think about; he itched for Alec's hands on his body, tugging on his hair and tearing at his clothes.

"Alexander, what do you say to a little makeup sex?" Alec's grip on his shoulders tightened.

"A little?"

"Okay, a _lot_."

"I say what the hell are you waiting for?"

Magnus nuzzled his face into Alec's soft, pleasantly warm neck, loving the salty smell of his skin.

"Bedroom?" he asked, but Magnus ignored him, leaning back to rake Alec's body with blazing catlike eyes. Grinning appreciatively, he licked his lips with a twirl of promiscuous pink tongue that Alec's eyes locked onto with an almost feral hunger; he could nearly _feel _that tongue against his suddenly heated skin just from the sight, and _God_ did he want it. It was like the scent of a delicious cake that tickles your nose just before the taste meets your lips, looking at Magnus but not touching him. "Magnus, come _here_."

They had had sex a hundred different ways; slowly, sweetly, roughly, quickly- but Alec knew that this time it would be hot and dirty.

"No, Alexander. I'm staying right here."

"But I want you," Alec almost pleaded, "Magnus-"

He broke off as Izzy flounced into the room, slamming the door with a whirl of black hair fanning out from her shoulders.

"Alec, have you seen Jace?" Magnus usually loved Izzy, but just then he wanted nothing more than to zap her to the Lake District until he was done with Alec.

"Darling Isabelle, we have not seen Wayland and though I utterly adore you, kindly fuck off so I can bend your brother over the back of the couch." Alec let out a noise like a cross between a sneeze and a cough, and Izzy raised her sculpted eyebrows.

"Oh hell no, not in here. Get a bedroom! We're in an Institute, if you hadn't noticed- it shouldn't be too difficult!"

"Fair enough." Magnus yanked Alec to his feet and shoved him roughly in the direction of the door with a playful slap on the ass. "If you need anything, don't ask us!"

The door banged firmly shut behind them, leaving Isabelle bored and desperately trying to kick images of her brother and his boyfriend from her mind.

Grabbing Alec by the hand, Magnus charged up the two flights of stairs as usual but turned left instead of right, away from Alec's room, slamming the shadowhunter against the wall. Alec's lips were parted; ridiculously delicious looking, rosy pink and kiss-swollen- utterly irresistible, but his eyes… glassy and darkened with lust, burned with an animal gleam that nearly made Magnus come on the spot.

"Magnus, I'd love to fuck you in the hallway," he hissed, their faces nearly touching "But I think you've got a plan, what is it?"

Delaying the question to allow time for a little _persuasion_, he attacked the pale column of Alec's neck with the ferocity of a vulture tearing apart its' meal, trailing purplish marks to shape letters: MB. _Now you're mine, _thought the warlock, _Mine only_.

"I want you in Jace's room." Alec's eyes widened to saucer-like proportions, then he chuckled throatily, yanking Magnus in for a bruising kiss. Their tongues clashed in a slippery battle that smeared lipgloss in a sticky mess all over Alec's face, but neither cared. Once Jace's door was thrown open, however, they stopped. "Dear God. How can he live like this?"

The room was spotless, immaculate, almost totally white- nothing on the floor save a pair of shoes, neatly aligned at the foot of a meticulously made wrinkle-free bed; pillows even, covers flat and tucked in at the end and edges. The only thing that didn't look like it belonged in a hospital was a book, lying like a forgotten teddy bear stuffed in between the pillows.

"Insane, isn't it. What were you expecting?" Alec grinned.

"Oh, I don't know, dead demons under the rug, muddy boot-prints, a little photograph of Valentine in a heart-shaped frame? But this is worse- it's driving me crazy. Let's mess it up!"

Magnus dove into the act; kicking at Jace's shoes, flinging open his wardrobe doors and rifling through until its fabric guts tumbled freely wherever they pleased: on the floor, in the air, under the bed, he ripped the bed covers and pillows off, finally throwing Alec down to rumple the sheets with his gorgeous body.

"Wait, the book!"

"What?"

"I don't want the book to get damaged." He placed it gently on an alphabetically-sorted bookshelf, caressing the paperback fondly, and Magnus clambered on top of him, lips teasing at the soft curve of his ear.

"God, I'm jealous of books." The whisper sent shivers of hot breath tickling down Alec's ear and neck, the promise of more to come. "I wish you'd open me up and pore over me for hours until you've absorbed everything, stroking your fingers down my spine, get so deep into me that it feels like you're in another world." Alec moaned, sliding his hands into his lovers' thick black hair, barely able to breathe. "I wish you'd drink in every single bit of me until there's nothing left, then do it all over again."

As sharp little teeth nipped at his earlobe, Alec flipped them over so that Magnus was pinned to Jace's mattress, looking so yummy Alec wanted to devour him.

"I love you!" he groaned into a kiss, grinding their hips together, swallowing each other's air religiously, feeling as though he was drowning in Magnus. His tongue explored the back of straight white teeth, the roof of his mouth, making the warlock shudder with pleasure and murmur

"I love you, I love you, I _love you._ Don't you fucking dare cheat on me ever again."

"I won't."

Alec felt the shirt torn away from his body and suddenly realised how horrible clothes were- a barrier between them.

"Magnus, get everything off, _right now._" A snap of those slim, capable fingers and the tyrannous reign of the clothes ended: they were nowhere to be seen. Suddenly every touch, every breath, every shadow on the wall was Magnus, and Alec hummed happily as he gazed down at the decadent, rich gleam of his lover's skin, the seductive glare of his yellowy eyes.

Which was when Magnus pounced.

He tangled his fingers into Alec's hair, slamming him roughly down and straddling the pale, slender hips with a wild laugh, slipping him a chaste kiss surprisingly sweet in contrast. He continued to tease with slow, torturous kisses and licks snaking from Alec's ear to collarbone, following the pulsing vein, eventually dipping his tongue into the hollow at the base of his throat, coaxing out a breathy moan. "Please Magnus, please, you're killing me,"

The answering chuckle vibrated through Alec's chest, and hands slid over every bit of skin they could reach.

"What do you want me to do, baby?"

"Mags, _please_!" The tawny hands slid lower, teasing slow circles on Alec's stomach.

"Tell me what you want, and you can have it." He ran a thumb lightly down Alec's hard length, and Alec was sure that if his dick had had a voice, it would be yelling at him to _get the fuck on with it_. He decided to vocalise its intentions.

"Get the fuck on with it!"

Magnus chuckled, nibbling at Alec's thumb the way Chairman Meow did when he wanted feeding.

"No, Alexander. You've been a very, very bad person and now you're paying for it." He slipped the pad of the thumb into between his lips, running his tongue along the digit, ignoring Alec's whining as he pleaded for more. "So, tell me what you want." Magnus bit down, hard, making Alec cry out in both pleasure and pain.

"Do anything, _anything, _please baby just do something!"

Their eyes met with an electric jolt.

"You're mine, Alexander Lightwood."

And he sank his hand down onto Alec's waiting cock, pumping indulgently from root to tip. Alec's eyes fluttered closed, and a string of profanities dripped from his lips. Magnus was becoming an addiction, an obsession, he wanted him but more than that he _needed _him, more than air or sleep or water.

Within the next few minutes, Jace's bedside lamp crashed to the floor, a stray magical spark set fire to the sheets (quickly noticed and put out) and the bookshelf spewed its contents across half of the room. Strangely, this time Alec didn't seem to care.

He'd decided he was done with foreplay; snaking his large, calloused hands over Magnus' slender thighs, pushing them roughly apart.

"I'm topping." He smirked, planting a gentle kiss on his boyfriends nose, before being slammed unceremoniously, face down into Jace's sheets. They smelled of Magnus' fruity shampoo and dark, spicy perfume.

"You aren't." Came the whisper in his ear, and Alec fancied he could hear the smirk on Magnus' face, along with the muffled laughter against his shoulder blade, that sent vibrations rippling down his spine, making him squirm.

Magnus slid his tongue down Alec's spine, coaxing the shadowhunter into pliancy beneath him, and with a flutter of fingers he was slathering lube all over the both of them; Alec trembling with anticipation as Magnus' fingers spread the cool liquid into his entrance, loving the sweet burn as they stretched him out.

"Magnus, I want you"

"You have me, baby."

Alec slithered around so they were facing each other, hooking his legs around Magnus' slender waist, desperate to satisfy the fever burning up in his body.

"I want your _cock_,"

Magnus' eyes widened, then blazed fiercely as he complied- shoving in with such a force that Alec cried out in pleasure, knotting his hands in the warlock's thick hair and stealing the breath from his lips.

It didn't take many of the long, smooth, hard strokes before Alec was yanking at Magnus' hair, his own fingers twisting Jace's sheets to tearing point- thrusts becoming desperate and erratic. Biting down hard on Alec's neck, Magnus let his orgasm hit with waves of pleasure and Alec did the same, lightning behind his eyelids and Magnus' name tearing itself from his throat in a yell that echoed off Jace's walls.

As Magnus slid out and collapsed, hot breath ghosting along his jawline, Alec couldn't help but think how lucky he was.

**Damn…that was a bitch! But hopefully you liked it…did you? :S**

**Also, the ever-annoying gold star has become wedged in the space between I, L and K, so if any of those letters are missing I apologise.**

**Love China! Xx**


	18. Um, He Used My Toothbrush

**Hello darlings! Sorry I've been gone so long **_**again**_**, damn I'm so busy. The culprit is my friend Oliver, so blame him. A sales assistant in Topshop snapped at us yesterday… because he ****came into my changing room to check out my outfit… apparently that's not allowed. But we're both gay! :S**

**To the reviewer who signed themselves 'Impromptu Soloist'; honey, you absolutely made my day. Thank you SO much. I'll try and keep updating regularly I swear, it's so great to get that kind of feedback, words cannot describe. Thank you. *heart***

**I don't own the Mortal Instruments or Pot Noodle.**

Raphael's quarters at the Dumont were cold, not that he'd notice it, nor anyone who would step into the room that day, save one. Camille wasn't that one; she looked rather glacial herself, smooth ice-white skin against the pale blonde of her hair, and the proud, aloof expression fixed onto her features as though stapled there. Camille had turned cold centuries ago.

"Lady Belcourt."

"Santiago. It is a pleasure, I'm sure."

"What else?"

Raphael had been extremely surprised she wanted to have a civilised meeting, although he could hardly kill her in front of the clan she was technically the head of- it was still a very odd request. He approached the task with extreme wariness.

Waves of ice-cold disapproval roiled from her as she eyed his living room, scrutinising gaze not missing the note on his coffee table.

It was thick, yellowing parchment, heavy with the burned-sugar smell of magic and something darker, spicily sweet- when the scent had reached Camille's nostrils, its familiarity struck her with a jolt. Magnus Bane. There was no doubt at all. Leaning demurely forward, hair falling artfully about her face, she leant to pick it up with the air of someone who could do whatever they pleased. Sure enough, the parchment was lined with Magnus' elegant, spidery scrawl.

_Santiago,__  
__If you ever lay s__o much as a finger on Alexander Lightwood again- with or without his consent- I, personally, will castrate you. I assure you it will not at all be a pleasurable experience; I will probably use rusty scissors, or possibly an antique hare trap. Pliers if you__ beg __really__ nicely.__  
__Sincerely, High Warlock Bane.__  
__P.S. I do not make hollow threats.__  
__P.P.S. Poison against the Mark of Cain? Bitch, please._

"Ah, I see you have been tangling with Magnus Bane."

"Indeed." Raphael inclined his head stiffly "Though I fail to see what business that is of yours."

"Well, now." Camille's fangs glittered ominously in the vampiric candlelight, her face bleached the colour of sun-ripened bones. "Where is your hospitality? We are old friends now, after all."

Raphael's own fangs slid out at her words, at her audacity, at the feral glint of her gleaming green eyes. The twisted tree of hatred in his stomach burned, bitter. He was sick to death of her games.

"_Puta sucia._" He hissed, as though the words themselves could strike her. "We are not friends."

Camille's twinkling laugh dripped with false amusement, her eyes cold and bright and dangerous.

"Oh Raphael, must we do this the hard way?"

"Why have you come here?" A dribble of sweat beaded on his forehead, most unusual for a vampire: Raphael could feel an odd stirring in his gut, as though he was ill. But vampires did not get ill.

Unseen, the Seelie Queen lurked in a shadowy corner of the room, uncomfortable in the chilly space. However, her thin scarlet lips quirked in a ruthless smile as her magic curled its iron fingers around Raphael's heart.

"Gracious, are you feeling quite well?" Camille's air tried for concern, yet her true amusement shone through like sunlight through a sieve. "My my, you don't look overly hearty."

Raphael's body gasped for unnecessary air, more sweat trickling down his throat as a feeling like brands of fire tore at his chest. The pain was excruciating: unlike anything he'd ever known- smashing in his brains and paralysing every thought except _make it stop make it stop make it stop._

"How- how are you d- what- _stop it. Please, please."_

Camille laughed.

Raphael slipped to the floor like a discarded dress, twitching as the faerie magic ripped apart his unbeating heart.

"_Dios me perdone."_ His last words, 'God forgive me', rattled from his choking lips, and the spark faded from his black-coffee eyes.

Without their steely, age-old glint, in death Raphael was just a child. The slight, delicate body oddly still at Camille's feet as she eyed it with disdain, then suddenly lashed out with a booted foot, cracking bones as she caved in the already hollow chest like a rotting pumpkin. Using the corpse to wipe her dirty boots, she then strutted over to the Seelie Queen, the heat of revenge blazing in her eyes as the vampire crushed their lips together in a searing kiss that tasted of blood, death and satisfaction.

* * *

Alec was stretched out on a couch in the Institute's main living room, twirling an eerily green strand of pot noodle around his fork, staring at it incredulously.

"But…what do they do to it in the factory?"

Magnus laughed, running a hand along Alec's forearm and gazing at his eyes- fixed on the pot of congealed noodles- wide and crystal-light with innocent horror.

"I don't know, darling."

"But…it's so…it doesn't even taste like chicken! And it looks, well, frankly it looks disgusting! What's that gloopy stuff at the bottom?" He waved the garish plastic pot at Magnus, genuine concern on his pretty pale face, then reached down to plonk it on the floor. "Oh Angel, I'm not eating that."

Magnus' gaze slid over Alec's body as he bobbed back up, his lean muscles stretching deliciously. They were sat at opposite ends of the sofa, legs tangled together in the middle, Alec's stupidly long feet nudging at his thighs whenever either of them moved.

Magnus grabbed one and wiggled his big toe, peeking out from a hole in the threadbare grey sock, making Alec squirm, trying to pretend like he wasn't ticklish. The liar.

"You should eat it. It's good for you."

"No it isn't! I think pot noodles must be made from...carrier bags, bus tickets, and just a dash of battery acid, if I'm not mistaken."

Magnus leaned in and gently lifted Alec's chin, licking at the corner of his mouth to share the taste.

"It's true. But I love it. Pot noodle is the food of champions. I bet Usain Bolt loves it too."

Alec snorted, grinning, and Izzy shot a smouldering black glare in their direction, briefly distracted from the latest issue of Cosmo.

"You two are so coupley. Fine in small doses, but concentrated it's just sickening."

Magnus gave Alec's lips another lick just for Izzy, a retort blossoming on her tongue when a yell echoed down from upstairs. Jace. Isabelle looked confused, setting down her magazine and unfurling her legs, ready to dash up to help if there was a problem.

"By the Angel!" Jace's shouts could have woken the dead. "When I get my hands on-"

Alec turned, slowly, strands of black hair slinking over his pale neck, jagged shards of horror in his eyes like the splintered surface of a frozen lake.

Magnus, on the other hand, wasn't quite so worried. A torrent of laughter bubbled from his lips, reminiscent of the fizz from a can of coke, igniting a spark of suspicion in Izzy's mind.

"Alec. Magnus." Her eyes narrowed to wicked black slits. "Do you know what's wrong with him?"

"Haven't the foggiest," Magnus said breezily- too breezily. "He probably tripped over his ego on the stairs."

"ALEC LIGHTWOOD! MAGNUS BANE!" Jace's roars seemed to shake the walls as his footsteps pounded down the staircase, a stampede all on his own.

Alec's eyes darted around nervously, searching for an escape, and Izzy giggled, a delicate hand covering her mouth.

"You _didn't_. No way…Jace's bed?"

The door's hinges screamed in protest as it was thrown wildly open, an icy blast of air and a ferocious Jace charging into the room. Magnus fully appreciated in that moment just how formidable he would be in battle; golden eyes scorching a blazing rent through the air as his rage-heavy gaze found them, biceps straining under his t-shirt as huge clenched fists strangled at the air.

"What, in the name of Angel Raziel in all his heavenly glory, have you done to my room!"

No-one spoke.

Jace puffed out a lungful of hot breath, looking for all the world like a rampaging bull. "_Ba__ne,_" he spat, "You sparkly twat. I should have expected this from you. But _Alec._" Alec swallowed, wide, guilty blue eyes giving him the appearance of a baby deer trapped in the headlights of an oncoming truck. "That's so gross! We're supposed to be _brothers, _wasn't being in my room a huge turn off? No?"

A shrill ringing pierced the air. Phone. Isabelle rushed to answer it, as Jace carried on yelling at a shifty Alec and a still-cackling Magnus.

"Isabelle? I trust everything is going well?"

"Hi Mum. It's fine. Dad okay?"

"Yes, yes." Maryse said, a little too quickly. "What is that infernal racket? Jace?"

"Yeah, I'll tell him to shut up." She covered the receiver. "JACE! Mum's on the phone, keep it down!"

Jace shot an acidic glare at his parabatai and snatched the phone from Izzy.

"Hey Maryse. Sorry about that, I was just, um, having a chat with Alec."

"Oh Angel, I don't know what I'll do with him, first Magnus and now you, what's he done?"

Alec froze, and Jace twiddled the extension cord between his scarred golden fingers. He doubted Maryse would benefit from knowing the truth, as satisfying as it would be to tell her and see Alec's reaction.

"Oh, he used my toothbrush."

"Alexander, that is disgusting!" His adoptive mother's shrill voice rang out from the telephone, clearly meaning for Alec to hear if he was nearby. "Now Jace, is Magnus there? I would rather like to speak with him, please." A flicker of surprise flashed across Jace's face, like the snatched glimpse one might get of a bird swooping past their window- so sudden they aren't certain whether or not they have truly seen it.

"Yeah, sure, I'll pass him over. Magnus, she wants to speak to you."

Alec's mouth dropped open, but the warlock, to everyone's astonishment, didn't seem ruffled: instead he strutted over, deftly plucking the phone from Jace's fingertips, and patted the back of his silky hair.

"Hello, Magnus the Magnificent speaking," he purred, magically twirling the extension cord until it shaped the words 'Alec you're gorgeous'.

"Oh yes, yes, I'm fine now." He said, Maryse's side of the conversation no longer audible to the rest of the room's inhabitants. "I do apologise for waking you up. Yes, thank you ever so much for that. I hope my mascara didn't stain your suit, it was a rather fierce one."

Alec looked mournfully confused, thoughtful, although his expression rapidly switched to embarrassment as the extension cord spelled out 'Alexander, that sex was fantastic!' and then 'Bin the remains of Jace's sheets.'

Jace gritted his teeth, glaring daggers at Magnus' slender back.

"No, of course not! There was indeed more to it… no, Alec isn't like that at all. Yes, I was worried too. Mais oui, he has certainly redeemed himself." His tone, for once, wasn't at all suggestive- Maryse probably assumed he meant flowers or something, but Alec blushed regardless. "Of course. I'll tell him. Yes, Izzy too. Oh, I suppose him as well. Bonsoir!"

Magnus strode back to the shadowhunters, pulling Alec in for an affectionate kiss. "Your mother says she loves you, Alec, and that also applies to Izzy and even you, Wayland."

Isabelle smiled, and her stomach rumbled loudly.

"She really asked you how you were? Like, emotionally?"

"Yes," Magnus replied. "She was very nice. Especially after this morning. She heard crying coming from Alec's room, so she went in there only to find it was me, wearing only a pair of Alec's underwear and a scarlet feather boa. I imagine it must have been quite a shock." Alec slinked an arm around Magnus' waist, a barrage of conflicted emotions swirling in his blue eyes. "Now, Isabelle is hungry, and you must be too Alec, since pot noodles don't meet your approval. Wayland, I don't really know or care whether you are, but assuming Alexander can walk okay, we're going to get dinner. Adieu for now!"

_**HI I'm Zoe (yes the Zoe who has been mentioned so many times by China!) anyway she thought I best explain who I was just in cases anyone was confused or anything so here goes. I'm Zoe and I am Chinas parabatai because we are just that cool ;) and also her best friend and I'm not allowed to read the lemons because I'm too sweet and innocent and it will ruin my innocent mind (ok I'm just messing with you) the reason I'm not allowed to read this is because she thinks it will be really awkward although I know her mind better than she does so I can probably tell you what she's going to write but oh well we thought we would explain just in case anyone was interested x **_

_**(p.s. don't tell her I told you this but she really loves it when you review her she gets all giddy and excited its quite sweet not that she would appreciate being called "sweet")**_

**So, that was Zoe! She wanted me to also tell you that she likes boys, because everyone assumes we're together.**

**I think she fancies me.**

**My chapter was kind of bad, wasn't it! It was sort of a filler, next chapter something big happens, if you're interested, so the story needed some down time. Let me know what you thought, always keen to improve!**

**And btw, 'puta sucia' was Raphael calling Camille something highly unsavoury, the naughty vampire. Sorry for the mile-long AN.**

**Love China. XxxX**


	19. Actually, It's Santa Claus

**Bonjour, mon petit choufleurs! Okay, so you should know, some things aren't as they seem. (That doesn't mean you'll be confused. I hope you won't.) **

**Thanks again from the reviews, damn I LOVE hearing what you guys liked! :D I actually injured myself reading the last lot, because I did an improvised sort of leap/happy dance and skidded on the floor, falling in a heap. (Stupid tights)**

Jace should have known that leaving Alec to walk back home alone was a bad idea. He knew it now.

Camille reared back as Jace's blade severed both her heart and spinal cord- through her back as Valentine had taught him- tearing her jaws from Alec's throat and spewing a fetid stew of flesh and blood all over them both. She hadn't been turning him, just draining him. The vampire spat a bloody curse as she died, almost instantly, but Jace didn't hear it, didn't care.

All he cared about was his parabatai, who lay, too still, on the dusty ground. Alec.

It was too late to save him, that was obvious. He was still breathing, but it was shallow and erratic, hoarse through his shredded throat, almost as painful for Jace to hear as it was to do. Alec's dark hair was matted with black strings of gore, like it was the time he had kicked himself in the face, breaking his own nose, when they had practised flips together in the training room. So long ago now. Jace knotted his fingers in that hair; it still felt thick and silky between his calloused fingertips.

Alec looked up, and Jace choked on a sob as those familiar, sky-blue eyes met his own. He opened his mouth, blood trickling from his lips like brackish water.

"Jace…" he said, the pain in his face forcing up stinging tears.

"Alec, please…I'm so sorry." Jace whispered, not knowing whether he was apologising for leaving him in a vulnerable state, or being too late to save him. "My brother. I love you." He sobbed, the pain in his eyes mirroring Alec's. "I never told you enough, but I do."

Sludgy blood leaked from between the dying boy's slashed lips as he coughed pitifully, leaking onto Jace's hands as he traced the smooth ridge of bone under Alec's collar.

"Jace…it hurts so much," he said, and Jace's tears splashed onto Alec's face, mixing with the red liquid there. "Please don't leave me again."

Jace held his pale face with golden hands, shaking his head. He wouldn't leave him. Not again.

"I promise." He choked, seeing a smile tug at the corners of his Alec's lips, only to be replaced with a wince. "Wither thou goest, I will go." Words from their parabatai oath, the oath meant to bind them forever. He didn't want to recall the next line: _Where thou diest, I will die._ "I love you so much!"

Alec gazed up at his parabatai with a finality that chilled Jace to the bone.

"I will always love you," he said, "But I'll never forgive you."

Jace froze, aghast, as Alec took a long, rattling breath- his last- and closed his eyes. As their parabatai connection broke, he felt like an abseiler whose cord has been cut, and is falling, falling down, down, into nothingness.

Briefly, before blacking out next to the limp lump of meat that used to be Alexander Lightwood, he remembered his father's words. _To love is to destroy. _

* * *

Jace shot up in bed, his body aching and drenched in cold sweat, fighting to wrench his thoughts away from the nightmare. His third that week. Different scenarios, but always Alec, hurt or killed or crying, with nothing Jace could do to help him.

He was sick to tears of it, and the way it affected him.

Usually, after waking up, he'd read until it was time to get up, or he was relaxed enough to sleep again, but tonight was different.

It was as though he had been drained of blood; and instead his veins were pumping round a desperate need to _see_ Alec, make sure he was safe.

The faint blue glow of Jace's witchlight watch told him it was 4.14 AM, far too early to disturb Alec, but for some reason he didn't care. He didn't have to know Jace was there- he would simply walk into his room, check he was breathing, and go back to bed. Easy.

The gentle burn of stele against skin soothed Jace a little as he carved a _Soundless_ rune onto his neck, and crept into the hallway, slightly chilly in his holey pyjamas.

Heavy darkness hung over the Institute's features like a black veil, turning ordinary furniture into odd, humped shapes that glared accusingly from the shadows, whispering in Maryse's voice _You should be in bed._ Jace brushed all sinister thoughts away the way one brushes pencil shavings off one's clothes; they were totally out of character, taunting him with how deeply the nightmares had shaken him up.

Alec. Alec. Alec. Jace's heart seemed to beat his parabatai's name, he _had_ to see him. He could feel his presence every minute of his life, and yet somehow, now, it wasn't enough.

Alec's door was so familiar.

He knew every detail of it; the flaking white paint, the rusting handle, off of which hung a lonely turquoise bead on a navy string, the remnants of a long-forgotten decoration. Even- or maybe especially- the large dent, spidery cracks unfurling from its epicentre, where Izzy had punched the door in an effort to make Alec open up so she could drag him to Pandemonium against his will.

Jace nudged it gently open with his shoulder, taking care to be quiet so as not to disturb Alec's sleep.

He hadn't counted on him already being awake.

"Jace? Jace, is that you?" a faint whisper escaped from the depths of the dark.

"No, actually, it's Santa Claus. Have you been a good boy this year?" Alec rolled his eyes, not that Jace could see.

"Idiot. Have you come to give me my presents?"

"Alec… don't laugh, but…" Jace didn't know how to express the overwhelming need he'd felt to see him. "I needed to see you. To see if you were…okay."

"I am. I'm fine. You're not though. Our rune woke me up." Jace eyes strained, he could just make Alec out, one slender finger tapping the parabatai rune on his collar bone. "You've been really shaken up about something, what is it?"

"You." He said, eyes fixed on his bare feet. "I had a dream- well, a nightmare really, and I _had_ to see you. I don't know why."

"It's okay, Jace. Everything's fine-" he broke off as Jace slid into bed next to him, and fell asleep almost instantly. Alec was blown away by surprise, and concern for his brother. Especially when he felt the dampness of Jace's tears on the pillow.

* * *

A shrill beeping cleaved the silent air in Isabelle's room, yanking her roughly from sleep.

Her phone.

It was a text. She smiled briefly at Simon's name on the screen, despite the message having waken her up.

_Hey Iz, hope I didn't wake you up __ Clary and I are thinking about coming over, is that okay? S. x_

_Of course! I'll get in the shower. Try not to think about that too much ;) XO_

Izzy didn't know why a mundane made her feel so…slushy, but for whatever reason, Simon did. She tried not to think about it, finding that the best solution to the problem.

She would also try not to feel annoyed, later, when Clary and Simon turned up at the Institute together after a night of innocent platonic sleepovers, Simon probably yelling for them to drag a couch into the Sanctuary so they could _all_ hang out.

As much as Izzy hated that idea, it would bring her no comfort to know that she needn't worry, that Camille and the Seelie Queen would intervene, effectively destroying her prediction of the near future. No comfort at all.

* * *

Tessa Gray gazed out of the window, weary grey eyes fixed on the New York skyline without really seeing it. The morning was clear, bright, not a cloud to be seen in the vibrant turquoise sky punctuated only by the forest of buildings that rose up from the concrete floor of the city- it was one of those summer days when you can almost taste the sunshine pouring out of heaven, the recent rain forgotten- yet Tessa didn't care for the view. She didn't want to get out into the day, like she would have done decades ago. She didn't wonder how a writer might describe the scent of the morning air, as she would have done decades ago.

Tessa Gray was bored of life.

Bored; of people and their chatter- as if anything mattered to a girl who'd heard it all before, of the weather- why care if it's sunny or raining or snowing if you've seen every type a million times.

She was sick to death of life.

Sick of after all these years, managing to catch a glimpses of men, strangers, with violet-blue eyes or pretty Asian features, ebony-black hair or a delicate grace, and still not knowing which she preferred.

Not to mention the stabbing pain in her chest whenever Brother Zachariah whispered greetings in her mind. Only greetings, never anything more.

_Hello, Tessa Gray._

_I trust you have been keeping well, Miss Gray._

And the worst of all.

_There you are, my Tessa._

She just didn't want to hear any more, which is why she had to die.

Not immediately of course, taking one's own life was such a horrid business, but once she'd set her affairs in order, said goodbye to some of her old friends. She had been civilised in life and wanted to remain so in her manner of departure, and had therefore asked around for a spell that could be of some help, the search for which had led her to New York.

The spell, Tessa learned, could be found in The Book of White, which happened to be the property of an old friend, Magnus Bane. If performed correctly, the years of the warlock in question would be swapped for those of a mortal: making the mortal immortal and the warlock able to grow old.

The problem was, she knew the truth of immortality, all its cruelty. She had to find a mortal human whom she wouldn't feel terrible about giving it to.

**So, how did you like it? Don't worry, the end isn't going to be as obvious as it looks right now!**

**What, you didn't think I'd just kill Alec out of the blue like that, did you?**

**Do Shadowhunters have witchlight watches? I'd rather like to think that they do.**

**Love China. xxxxxx**


	20. What Is He Doing In Our Bed?

**Hola, buenos dias! Uh, over 100 reviews! Thank you so so so so much to everybody! Half this chapter was written in a notebook, but there was that everlasting issue of 'Which notebook? Where did I put it?' so I scrabbled around for AGES, only to find it on the FIRST PAGE of a book I'd checked four times. Nice going, genius.**

**I don't own the Mortal Instruments or Lord of the Rings.**

Clary linked her arm through Simon's as they strolled amicably toward the subway. It was something they had done often over their years of friendship, and made Clary feel comfortable, safe, even if the physical feeling had changed. When Simon was a mundane, his arm had been slender but soft and warm, and the sharp nub of his elbow had poked her ribs gently as it jangled with his steps; whereas now it was cold, hard, steady with his newly fluid movements.

It didn't matter to her one bit. He was still Simon.

Simon had saved her so many times, Clary thought as they walked in companiable silence, just by being himself, what with all the changes her life had taken recently, keeping her sane. He was all she had from her old life.

"Simon?"

"That would be me."

"I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Well, Fray, you'd probably wind up living in a cave, or something."

"What? Why?" Clary prepared herself for one of his tangents. They were increasingly frequent.

"Well, we're like the Frodo and Sam of Brooklyn, without the sexual tension of course. You're Frodo, who without his lovably awkward gardener, would inevitably succumb to the lure of the ring, as proved on the many occasions where said gardener snaps him out of his Sauron-fueled daydreams, and also when they are discussing the stories that would be told about them after the completion of their quest and Frodo says 'What about Samwise the Brave? Frodo wouldn't have gotten far without him.' So Clary-Frodo's succumbing to the ring would probably cause him to follow in the footsteps of Gollum, consequently leading him to retreat into a dark cave to eat fish and go crazy, and be unable to leave due to the ring abandoning him for Sauron, so he's stuck living in the cave eating the fish."

"But what's the ring in this case?"

"Isabelle. Definitely. You'd be desperately in need of a new BFF, despite the fact that my shoes are just too large to fill. And you know what they say about big shoes…"

"Big ego?" Simon elbowed her, chuckling.

"That's not it."

"So Izzy would leave me in a cave?"

"Inevitably, yes."

"Why?"

The Seelie Queen glared at Clary and Simon as they bickered fondly, waiting until they were suitably submerged in their conversation before weaving her little spell around them. She had originally just planned to do the one favour for Camille, that cunning vampire, but the Queen had found- to her secret astonishment- that she rather enjoyed her part in Camille's little plot. Which was why she was continuing to send Jace Herondale the nightmares about his parabatai, and was about to use Valentine's daughter to aid Camille's plans.

* * *

Izzy rapped on Alec's door, oblivious to the impassable sound-proofing spells Magnus had placed upon the room long ago.

"Alec! ALEC! Alexander Lightwood, if you don't open this door, I'm going to come in, regardless of whatever depraved things you and Magnus are doing!" She wasn't bluffing. Isabelle didn't bluff. "Fine, I'm opening the door!"

She flung it open with an almighty crash, black hair swirling out behind her as she forcibly woke a sleeping Alec, Magnus, and- Jace?

"ALEC!" Izzy shrieked.

"JACE!" Magnus shrieked.

"IZZY!" Alec shrieked.

"MAGNUS!" Jace shrieked.

"What is _he_ doing in our bed?" Magnus choked, looking slightly hysterical with dilated pupils and hair wild as if the whole of Manhattan had run their fingers through it.

Alec was speechless.

"Magnus…it was dark when I came in, I didn't know you were here as well-" Jace protested.

"So you just decided to hop into bed next to my boyfriend?" Magnus jumped to his feet and would have looked quite terrifying if he hadn't been naked save a pair of white boxers with 'ALEC WAS HERE' scrawled across them in black marker pen, distinctly Alec's handwriting. "Does this happen often?"

"NO! I just, er…" Alec decided to come to Jace's rescue.

"Mags, I'll explain everything later, maybe when you have some more clothes on?"

"Hmph." Magnus strolled into Alec's bathroom, flicking on the shower. "Fine!" his voice rang out, muffled from behind the door. "But it better be a good explanation!" he seemed to think better of the statement, however, as amusement overtook the surprise in his brain. "Alexander, if you're interested in getting another man involved then that's fine, just not _Wayland, _please darling. There simply isn't room for both our egos in one bed!"

"I think I'm going to leave you guys to it," Izzy muttered, flitting back down the hall leaving a wide-eyed open-mouthed Alec and a sheepish Jace, chuckling under her breath. "Idiots."

Later that day, Izzy perched worriedly on a sofa that Alec and Jace had lugged down to the Sanctuary, generally struggling and getting all sweaty before remembering that Magnus could summon furniture at will.

"You let us go through all of that?" Jace had challenged, ruffling his damp tawny hair. Magnus leant back on an ornate golden throne he'd summoned, stretching out like a cat.

"How could I stop you when Alec was looking _so _delectable? That, you know, would have been a crime against humanity."

Jace opened his mouth, but Izzy shushed him impatiently. It was impossible to argue with Magnus.

The brief smile the memory conjured up was rapidly swallowed by her anxiety. Alec and Magnus had gone to Brooklyn, Jace was in the training room, alone, and she had just received a text message.

Once again, she had grinned at Simon's name on the text, a grin that froze like a banana plunged into liquid nitrogen as the contents of the message registered.

_Izzy- Clary's hurt, and it's my fault. She needs help, and quickly. Could you come to this address? Sorry to ask._

The address was a house in Brooklyn, one Izzy had never heard of before. She sighed, before leaping up and taking the stairs two at a time, yelling out for Jace.

* * *

**Brooklyn, Magnus' apartment**

Alec nestled into Magnus' warm, strong arms, breathing in his dark, spicy scent. They lay together on the couch, Alec draped between Magnus' knees with his back pressed against the warlock's chest, their limbs tangled together in a jumble of denim and leather. If it weren't for demon-killing, hunger and the need to pee, Alec was sure he could happily stay like that forever.

Forever. There was that word again.

Magnus had promised to think about the immortality situation, but how much time did he need? He didn't want to push him, but had Magnus intended to think about it immediately, as Alec had assumed, or ten years in the future? He hadn't specified.

CRASH. The sudden disturbance tingled Alec's Shadowhunter senses even before he heard it.

_It_ was the sound of Magnus' front door splintering, forced off of its hinges. The crash echoed from the walls; ricocheting through Alec's sleepy head like a fire alarm. Warning. Warning.

He leapt up, snatching a seraph blade from under the couch (earning a questioning look from Magnus) and followed him to the door, his boyfriend's fingers already glowing with eerie blue, ready to dispatch a bolt of turquoise lightning before the intruder could say Quidditch.

It was Jocelyn; a jet black shadow with wisps of flaming hair lit by the dim hallway glow, with blazing eyes and a face full of desperate anger: she looked every bit the demonic-axemurdering-burglar-psycho Alec had been expecting.

"Magnus Bane." She boomed. "My daughter needs immediate medical attention, and if you don't give it to her by the Angel I will slaughter you so brutally you'll still be screaming a month after death!"

_Don't talk to my boyfriend like that,_ Alec thought, and when Jocelyn turned onto him a gaze that could surely reduce a heap of books to cinders, he realised he'd said it aloud. Magnus purred delightedly as Alec apologized profusely. He knew how it felt to have someone you cared about in danger, it wasn't the time for unnecessary protective statements.

"I'll have Clary fixed up in no time, don't you worry," Magnus chirped, and with a sizzle of blue flame all three of them were outside the Institute, the two Shadowhunters blinking in astoundment. It wasn't that Magnus wasn't worried about Clary, of course he was, but he was both confident in his saving her and happily shocked that Alec had defended him out of the blue, seemingly without even thinking about it. Serendipitous indeed, he mused, as Isabelle ushered them inside, into the Infirmary.

Except for the beautiful yet somewhat pretentiously painted ceiling, everything in the spacious sickroom was white, ice blue or pale grey; throwing Clary into shocking contrast with her fiery hair and angry phone-box red skin, blistered and sore.

Magnus hurried over, cloaking her body in a shimmering veil of magic, murmuring words of fond reassurance to soothe her whimpers of pain.

"What happened?" Alec asked his sister. Simon was slumped in a sickbed himself, not injured but ashen faced, his eyes staring blankly out of the window- Alec didn't know whether he was looking at something in particular or just avoiding Jace, whose acid glare could have burned a hole in the sun.

"Clary and Simon were coming over here, when some sort of magic hit them, they don't know what it was or where it came from- we were hoping Magnus might know- but they started to see things…all sorts of awful things, they thought they were under attack. Clary had a vial of demon ichor, which she threw, but it hit-" Izzy lowered her voice. "It hit Simon."

Alec glanced at Simon, who still hadn't met anyone's eye.

"But he's fine…oh, the Mark of Cain?"

"Yes. Clary's been badly burned, none of our runes would work, but thanks to Magnus she'll be fine."

"Good," Alec said. "So why is everyone looking like they want to knife each other? It's not Simon's fault."

Simon glanced briefly over, a weak, surprised smile hovering about his lips, tinged with guilt. Alec supposed he had heard, what with the vampire hearing they so often forgot.

"No, it isn't." Izzy replied, looking hopefully at Simon out the corner of her eye, but he was back to staring out the window. "But he feels guilty nonetheless. Jace, well, Jace isn't helping. And Jocelyn's just worried. You know how she likes to protect Clary."

* * *

Tessa squinted up at the building through harsh sunlight. It was pretty-ish, but old, not what she imagined Magnus living in at all. Last time they'd met he'd been living in a gorgeous German castle, drowning in splendour. Maybe he'd wanted something a little more modest.

Inside wasn't much of an improvement, Tessa noticed as she pressed the 'BANE' buzzer.

No reply.

She buzzed again, and again, and again, before realising that he either wasn't in or didn't wish to see her, hoping it wasn't the latter. They had parted friends, after all.

Never mind. Sure, it was inconvenient, but she could come back.

**There you go. Please do let me know what you think- is the storyline working for you? Because if it's confusing or you hate it or whatever, I'd like to know.**

**Love as always, China. xxxxxx**


	21. Emergency Team Good Meeting

**Ah, hello! So, Robert Sheehan is playing Simon in the City of Bones movie! I love him in Misfits. Talking of Simon, as HikariMelody rightfully pointed out, in the last chapter he was in the Infirmary which is not possible…oops! :S Sorry about that. Let's just pretend it didn't happen, but the overall effect was the same?**

_Clary's arm was wrenched from Simon's as a malevolent blue-black smoke engulfed them both- dusty and freezing, that stung her eyes as he choked it in with the air. Strange, twisted shrieks shot fire through her brain as warped shapes closed in, demons? _

_Clary wept and tried to curl up as hideous images flashed around her like some sick flickbook; a screaming man with blood dripping from his eyes, a wolf with its ribcage torn away, other things too horrible for her mind to register- then she remembered. _

_She was a Shadowhunter. Trained (well, in training) to coolly deal with any adversary._

_Numb fingers fumbled for the vial inside her jacket, uncorking the stopper she threw the ichor and-_

_The magic was gone, leaving instead Simon. Clary was about to smile when intense pain blazed through her entire body, she gagged on the scent of her own flesh blistering, and darkness bled into her vision, swallowing her whole._

Clary woke with a jerk, the memory of her and Simon's attack still clinging bitterly to her brain, a nasty, sour taste in the back of her throat.

"Clary, baby, how do you feel?" Jocelyn, lips bitten and skin pale, was gazing down at her.

"Mum…how did I get here, is Simon-"

"Simon's fine, although very worried about you. He told the Lightwoods to come and get you, you're in the Institute. Magnus Bane healed you."

Clary sat up stiffly, a little uncomfortable but her skin no longer felt as though it was on fire.

"What was it?"

"The injuries were from the Mark of Cain, due to the ichor you threw at Simon. The attack was dark magic of some sort, Magnus says he knows exactly where it came from, but he won't tell me."

"Is everyone else-"

"Everyone's fine." Her mother smiled gently, and Clary was reminded of the times she'd been sick in childhood: Jocelyn had always stayed with her, with books and drinks and whatever she needed, forever patient. "Well, Simon feels awfully guilty and Jace has thrown on that bitter, spiteful, sarcastic persona he seems to use when he's upset about something. Valentine did that, sometimes, only not so sarcastic.

Her eyes were far away, and Clary wondered, not for the first time, what she was thinking when she did that.

Suddenly, like a flare in the depths of a dark cave, a rune appeared in her mind. Its wibbly, intricate lines whispered tantalisingly in the language of the angels.

It _would_ be interesting to know what people were thinking, wouldn't it?

* * *

Magnus' vivid eyes snapped open, eerily yellow-gold in the witchlight, thick lashes splayed out so they looked like black daisies growing on his face.

The slivers of his pupils flexed and jittered as he thought.

"Clary's awake, and she's absolutely fine." Jace leapt up, but the warlock shook his head. "Jocelyn's there, but she really needs to rest. Don't disturb her for at least a couple of hours."

"Fine." Jace spat, ignoring Alec and Isabelle's worried glances. They didn't know where all his anger was bubbling up from. To love is to destroy. The dreams. Clary. He couldn't handle it. "Come on, Alec, I need to fight. Let's practice with those new blades."

Alec's eyes widened. He and Jace normally sparred with fake blades, or unnamed seraphs, just in case one of them made a mistake. Still, he could see that Jace needed the distraction, so he simply nodded, pushing a thick strand of hair off of his face.

At first, it was fine. The parabatai connection that made them so aware of each other, so perfect to fight _together_, made it challenging to fight _against_ each other, as they could usually predict each other's moves.

But today Magnus was standing at the sidelines, eyes fixed on Jace's blade, muttering in an interesting blend of Italian and Dutch, unheard threats of what would happen to Jace if Alec was in any way harmed.

Also, Jace- instead of venting, as everyone had thought he would- seemed to be getting more and more worked up.

Poisonous thoughts swirled around, a malevolent maelstrom in his mind, thoughts that had built up over the last few days like worms wriggling about under his skin. Jace wanted to stop thinking, just stop all of it.

He had almost managed it when his blade twizzled over Alec's head, under his arm, and sliced toward his throat. Jace realised, a split second too late, that maybe lack of thinking wasn't such a good idea, as the move had been performed on autopilot- too late, as a bolt of turquoise magic felled him like a tree.

Alec's eyes were wide. Stunned. Frozen. Like the world had been torn away. His blade clattered to the floor, the fingers that had been holding it pressing briefly to his pale neck. Jace knew, because he felt it too, the horrible hurt, betrayal coursing through Alec's body, and he hated himself more than ever before.

"Alec." His voice sounded very far away. "You know I would never hurt you."

"But you did. Jace, you _did_."

The fine line on his parabatai's throat wept a few scarlet tears as he edged slowly backwards, to Magnus who curled an arm around his shoulders protectively and lead him out of the room, shooting Jace a glare that said quite clearly _this isn't over.'_

Jace wanted to say something to Alec, to apologise, but Isabelle snatched the front of his shirt in her fist.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?"

"Izzy, believe me, I never meant to-"

"That is _not_ the sort of move you do with your parabatai, Jace you KNOW that!"

"I'm so sorry Izzy, you've got to know how sorry I am-"

Her expression was unreadable, black eyes flat and cold and blank like the squares of a chessboard.

"He could have been killed. If Magnus hadn't zapped you then Alec could have-"

"No, Izzy, I swear I wouldn't. Not ever."

She turned away, slinking towards the door.

"Does Alec mean nothing to you?"

Jace grabbed her by the shoulder, forcing their eyes to meet. He couldn't help but think, with cold anger on her face, that Isabelle looked a lot like Maryse, but where Maryse would have looked away when faced with such a gaze, Izzy stared him down.

"He means so much to me, Iz, more than I thought possible. And I never tell him. By the Angel, that's why this is happening."

Izzy sat him down on the floor, leaning against a glass-fronted cabinet displaying vials of rare poison. Her features seemed a little softer now.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've been having dreams. Like the ones that Lilith sent me, and they're messing me up, I don't even know what I'm thinking any more. They're all about Alec."

After hearing Jace out, Isabelle called an emergency meeting of Team Good.

Magnus had summoned a round table made of smooth black granite, the pitch-dark stone shot through with tiny ribbons of rainbow colours that glimmered when hit by the light from some theatrical Phantom of the Opera style torches he'd got to go with it. Someone would have laughed had the mood been less tense.

Alec was silent, pale, the shallow cut gone from his throat but not his mind, and Magnus hadn't yet let him out of groping distance. Even now, one protective hand squeezed his knee, the other had its slender brown fingers tangled with Alec's own.

Clary's eyebrows shot up to her coppery hairline as Izzy explained about the nightmares.

"I know who's sending them this time. It's Camille. She did it before, in the park, she said it was 'a taste of what is to come'."

"You can't just send someone nightmares," Magnus scowled, "It's not like texting. Especially a Shadowhunter, you'd have to use extremely powerful dark magic. If this is Camille, she's got help."

"Who would help her? And why would they want to anyway?"

"Well," Magnus said darkly, "The magic used on you and Ratboy originated from the Seelie Queen, and we know she's certainly not over fond of anyone here. Perhaps it wasn't just some random attack; they could be planning something together."

"Planning what?" Alec's voice was small but fierce. "What could those two possibly want from us?"

"I don't know." Magnus stroked Alec's hair thoughtfully. "That's why I worry."

**There you go, that's it for today! Let me know what you thought! Well, usually I have lots to say, but today, er, it appears not.**

**Love anyway,**** China. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	22. Were You Watching Me Sleep?

**Bonjour! I hope you like this. If it's confusing or anything, let me know.**

**So I hear some more smut is in order: I always feel like I'm getting it wrong when I write 'those' scenes, but of course I will if that is what you desire. After all, this is for you not me. Next chapter, I promise!**

**I own nothing except April.**

Alec woke- alone for once- out of a rather interesting dream involving a whole mundane football team; they had varied in appearance, but each one had catlike green-gold eyes.

He wished there was _someone _with him who could summon hot coffee out of thin air.

_Wow, _Alec thought, _I've only just woken up and I already miss Magnus. _He snuggled slightly into his warm, rumpled sheets before tumbling out of bed, the morning air covering him in its chilly breath due to the fact that he always slept with the window open. Magnus complained it made his toes freezing, but never actually shut the window as it gave him an excuse to cuddle up close. _By the Angel, I'm obsessed with him._

Alec was about to stumble into the bathroom, the urge to brush his teeth already nagging at the back of his mind, when- twitch.

The curtain twitched.

Twitched.

_Maybe I shouldn't sleep with the window open…_Alec mentally cursed. Was there something there? No. Of course not. How could there be?

He thought briefly of just ignoring it, but knew his curiosity would eventually get the better of him. It always did.

Alec flung the heavy material back, light gushing into his room like water through the windows of a sunken car, silhouetting the figure crouched on the windowsill.

Jace.

"Jace! What the hell are you doing behind my curtain!" He looked pale and drawn, bruiselike shadows lurking beneath his eyes as though he hadn't slept.

"I had another nightmare and had to see if you were okay."

"And after you saw I was okay you thought you'd hide on my windowsill? Were you watching me sleep?"

"Yes." Alec backed away, running his fingers through his scruffy black hair, an uneasy look in his eyes that would haunt his parabatai. "Alec you don't understand, I _have _to protect you!"

"What are do I need protecting from in my sleep, pillows or something?"

"I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you, Alec. I can't even imagine how I'd go on. It's like Lucie in 'A Tale of Two Cities', when she stands outside Darnay's prison every day in case he can see her; what I'm trying to say is that I can't let you get hurt."

Alec looked down at his pale toes, buried in the rug for warmth, trying and failing to hold back his anger.

"The only reason I've been hurt lately is because _you_ were so distracted that you nearly cut my throat!" The look in Jace's eyes was the one only Valentine had ever seen: when he had stabbed him beside Lake Lyn. It made Alec suddenly regret what he'd said.

"I'm so, so sorry about that- I still can't believe it happened, and I swear on the Angel I'll never be that careless with you again. I swear."

"Look, I didn't mean for it to come out like that, Jace, I just don't need to be protected all the time, okay?"

"You don't get it Alec. You could die any time; from demons, or a traffic accident, or I don't know- someone throwing a golf club."

"So could anyone. Not just me, any of the people you care about, you don't need to watch me sleep- that's probably the safest time of the day."

"I want you to become immortal."

Alec nearly choked on his tongue. He half sank, half collapsed onto his bed, speechless.

"You want _what?_"

"You heard me. Then you'd be a hell of a lot harder to kill. Think about it, it's a win-win situation- you get to be with Magnus indefinitely, and I don't have to worry about you so much." Jace placed a large, warm hand on Alec's shoulder, thumb brushing the edge of his collar bone where his parabatai rune lay. "Yet another of my stellar ideas, if I say so myself. Which I do."

"But I'd have to use black magic, or become a vampire, or-"

"Alec, we will always be parabatai, regardless of runes. If you were no longer a Shadowhunter, it wouldn't change the way I feel about you. I'd still fight, even die for you, you're my brother for Raziel's sake, that can neverchange."

Later that day

The training room was bathed half in darkness, half lit up by thick yellow light streaming in from the window: even in the shadows it glinted off countless blades. Alec and Jace weren't sparring, due to the previous day's events, just practising together, trying to master a particularly tricky move that –when performed correctly- could sever the heads of three demons simultaneously.

They nearly had it when Izzy burst in, a wild look in her dark eyes.

"Alec, Jace, Inquisitor Whitelaw's here, he wants to talk to us!"

"What does he want with _us_?" Jace didn't bother to disguise the confusion on his face.

"Well, he wanted Mum or Dad, but since neither of them are here we'll have to do."

"I see." Jace's features had settled into their default expressionless mask, the one he always wore when speaking to people other than the ones he had any particular feelings for.

The inquisitor didn't greet them, he simply lurched into speaking as they trooped in, still clad in their gear and slightly sweaty.

"As I'm sure you've heard, the head of Manhattan's vampire clan, Raphael Santiago, is deceased." Both his siblings shot Alec a look, which he refused to acknowledge. "The Clave believes he was murdered through magical means, not by another vampire, and have therefore deemed it appropriate to investigate. Charge of the Clan has also been handed to his second in command, April Tostavin, seeing as that is the case. They shall probably arrange a meeting with you, which you may want to- ahem- inform your parents of."

He looked uncomfortable. And not without reason, Jace mused absent-mindedly (he supposed Alec was listening and therefore he wasn't required to) social protocol suggested they should have offered the man a cup of tea.

"The reason I am here is that there was a piece of evidence found at the scene suggesting that Santiago was in a dispute with Magnus Bane, making him a strong suspect for the murder."

Alec gasped quietly.

"No, he can't have, he-" The Inquisitor cut him off with a glare that quite clearly said 'I'm not done talking'.

"You have the means of contacting him, and this is the place where he should be questioned."

"Oh, Angel," Alec breathed, head in his hands. "Dad is going to _love_ this."

"So, how do you intend to summon Warlock Bane?"

Alec reluctantly handed the Inquisitor his phone.

"Just to warn you, he's usually waking up around now, so…" he trailed off, blushing.

Isabelle, meanwhile, was busy wondering whether Robert and Maryse knew, and if not, how to tell them. '_By the way, you need to come back because Alec's boyfriend is a murder suspect and you're needed in the investigation' _sounded a little harsh.

Inquisitor Whitelaw fiddled around with the small, cracked black phone as though he was unused to such modern technology, navigating the touch-screen clumsily with his large, clunky fingers. Alec was tempted to ask if he wanted help, but was afraid that he would be offended by the suggestion that such a senior Clave member would need assistance from an eighteen year old.

"Ah, Inquisitor, you seem to be having trouble," Jace cut in. "It is a rather tricky phone to get used to, it took Alec and I ages to work it out." He lied, smoothly. "Would you like me to-"

"Thank you. Living in Idris, one becomes accustomed to rather old-fashioned ways of doing things." He smiled awkwardly, the change in features instantly revealing a kindness in his face that hadn't been visible before. Maybe, Alec thought, he had been too quick to judge the man.

He wasn't too worried about waking Magnus up with the call, as he was always very polite when talking to members of the Clave.

Unfortunately, Alec had forgotten about caller ID.

Magnus answered almost immediately, purring like a cat being stroked.

"Hey sex toy, miss me already? Why don't you come over, I'm in the kitchen and I've got something you'd love to give a good licking, in fact-"

Had Alec not been a Shadowhunter and raised to find such things out of the question, he might have strangled himself in embarrassment. Whitelaw looked as though he was having similar thoughts.

"_Ahem_, er, Warlock Bane, this is Inquisitor Whitelaw, concerning Clave matters."

The heavy silence was broken only by Izzy, who had discreetly shoved a tea towel into her mouth to muffle her laughter.

"I see, my apologies then. Magnus the Magnificent speaking, how may I be of service?"

It turned out that Magnus wasn't too bothered about being a murder suspect: he considered it a mild annoyance, similar to Jace or a blocked sink, however, the inquiry couldn't be unblocked or made to shut up with a wave of his hand- and so he was summoned to the Institute for questioning.

* * *

Camille snatched up a thrashing body from the floor of her quarters in the unused subway station: it writhed and screeched in her grip, but her blood-slippery hands refused to release it. She tore out the throat with her teeth, slurping until she'd had her fill, then threw the body to the ground again, where it crumpled like an empty coke can.

"How dare they!" The vampire shrieked, blood-soaked blonde hair whipping about her face as though she stood in a high wind. "Those pompous interfering Shadowhunters, I could kill them! I could kill them all!"

The Seelie Queen watched, quietly amused, from where she lounged on Camille's velvet sofa; her loose silk gown spattered with little scarlet drops.

"I would not advise it. The Shadowhunters are a ruthless and vengeful folk. Not unlike the vampires."

"Or the fey." Camille spat, her eyes blazing with cold fury. "The Manhattan Clan is rightfully mine, they have no right to take it from me!"

"The Clave are foolish, but they are powerful. You shall have the Clan. Now that Raphael is dead, you should be able to meet with the new leader and come to some form of agreement- after all, you did not abdicate your position. Do not fret. It shall be yours."

Camille seemed to calm a little at the Queen's words, fangs sliding back up into her gums. She sank into a violet armchair, breathing raggedly.

"You are right, of course. Sometimes I just… overreact." She had no idea why she was opening up so much to the fey, after all they hardly knew each other. She also had no idea why they saw each other almost every day, why they put so much of their energy into the plot that was no longer solely Camille's, but _theirs._

"Well," The Seelie Queen stood fluidly, her gown shimmering over the soft curves of her body as she leaned down to lay a hand on Camille's arm. "There's no need for that."

**So April is a lot like Denethor, the Steward of Gondor- he rules the land in the absence of a monarch, in this case Aragorn, but is not considered King. Following this premise, Camille is Aragorn- the Clan is rightfully hers but she has to get through the Steward to get it.**

**Obviously Aragorn didn't have to do that, as Denethor dies and Faramir was pretty content to let him have the throne and be mates. But Camille does.**

**Love as always. China xxxxxxxxxx **


	23. Michael Tolliver Spit On A Field

**Bonjour, darlings! I've been festival-ing it for the past few days, so no writing, but I won't apologise because it was brilliant :P**

**By the way, the football mentioned is European football. Soccer. Wow, I don't think I've ever typed that word before. My fingers feel weird now!**

**I own neither the Mortal Instruments or Michael Tolliver from Tales of the City (by Armistead Maupin)- if you haven't read that, YOU HAVE NOT LIVED.**

Alec peered through the window at Magnus, who swanned up to the Institute as though he was on a catwalk rather than being questioned as a suspect in a murder investigation. He was innocent, of course, but surely it couldn't hurt to look as though he was taking it a _little _seriously?

Despite the situation, Alec couldn't help but smile a little. Magnus was wearing a black-and-white vertically striped suit, white knee-high platform boots and a metallic gold poncho. To a Clave investigation.

Cool air ruffled his hair as he dashed down the stairs to meet Magnus at the door- the Clave members weren't due for another half an hour, and Alec wanted them to have some time together beforehand, plus he really wanted someone other than Isabelle to talk to about Jace. Izzy would only worry.

Just the thought of Magnus' smirk caused Alec to hurry, flinging open the door and tumbling into his boyfriend as a tangle of limbs.

"I missed you!" he breathed, as Magnus scooped him up and twirled them around.

"I missed you too, baby."

"I know, but I _properly_ missed you, as soon as I woke up it felt strange without you there." The warlock's heart melted and dribbled through his ribcage at Alec's adorableness, as he stood there in his arms, with wide navy blue eyes and biting his lip with the air of someone making a confession. "It was too cold and I couldn't help thinking how your toes get freezing and I had this sexy dream and I couldn't tell you and-"

Magnus brushed the tip of Alec's pale nose with his own.

"Oh, did you now?"

"Yes." Alec's lips quirked up at one corner. "About a whole football team."

"I see, and what exactly were they doing?"

"I'm not going to tell you." Magnus pouted. "But they all had eyes exactly like yours." Magnus peppered his face with a flurry of brief, chaste kisses; making Alec wriggle and smile cutely. He thought he had changed the subject pretty well: to be quite honest, he didn't want to admit to anyone how much he missed his Shadowhunter in the mornings- least of all himself.

"Well, that certainly sounds enjoyable, though I didn't know you were into football."

"Oh, I'm not." He smirked. "Imagine me sitting through a whole game? I don't have the patience for that- you can't turn the page when it gets insufferable, and the characters aren't left to your imagination. You see them spitting and stuff. Ew."

"Did you just say 'ew'?"

"It's gross! You never saw Michael Tolliver spit on a field."

Without warning, Magnus threw Alec over his shoulder in a fireman's lift, sauntering into the Institute with a laugh, the echoes of which skittered down the street like a litter of kittens.

Alec soon found himself plonked onto the long, polished table where Magnus' interview would take place, slightly breathless and hoping no Clave members had snuck in and witnessed their entrance.

"Allie pie?" Alec stared, as though Magnus were insane.

"What?" Magnus shrugged.

"Just trying it out. You don't like it?"

"No."

"That's a shame, I thought it was rather good. But anyway, before you so rudely interrupted my magnificent self, I was talking and I'd appreciate exercising my right to freedom of spee-" Alec, still perched on the table, shoved his feet into Magnus' lap with a rare, carefree laugh.

"Okay, okay, I'm very rude, what were you saying?"

"I just wanted to say thank you for yesterday." The Shadowhunter tried to think back without looking like a gormless idiot. Yesterday… "When you said 'Don't talk to my boyfriend like that' to Jocelyn."

Alec was surprised Magnus even remembered that, it had just slipped out before his brain could even process the words.

"I-oh, well, I-"

"It was really nice. Like something a proper boyfriend would say."

"I'm not a proper boyfriend?"

Magnus rested his chin on Alec's knees, fingers stroking the back of his slender ankles just beneath the sock.

"Of course you are, but we have so many complications, baby, it was nice because it was so…normal. It just showed how comfortable you've gotten. A few months ago you wouldn't even admit that I _was _your boyfriend."

The doorbell rang before Alec could respond, followed by the muffled clumps of Izzy's footsteps as she trudged to answer it. He ignored the sound, untangling his legs from Magnus' arms to drape them over the back of his chair so that they were in a rather compromising position.

"I don't care about complications." He said, then paused delicately. "Well, I do. But the most important thing is-is us, Mags, I guess what I'm trying to say is I love you."

"I love you, too."

"I know, but I don't mean it like I say it before I hang up the phone, or you do something really cute, I mean it like, importantly. Oh by the Angel, I'm so bad at this." He sighed, tugging on a strand of black hair.

"You're not bad, kid." Magnus grinned. "Not bad at all." He ran his fingers lightly up the lean curve of Alec's calves; either side of his shoulders, pinning him to the chair. Which, of course, would be the moment that Izzy walked in, closely followed by Jace, Inquisitor Whitelaw, and two other Clave members Alec recognized as Adrienne Hightower and Richard Branwell.

**(Aah! A moth just dive-bombed me! It was flapping around my ceiling and then it suddenly swooped down and crashed into me, like the violent winged fiend it is! I'll get on with it. Xxxx)**

Alec scrambled hastily away from Magnus, blushing furiously and straightening his shirt, while the High Warlock continued to lounge and smirk like a cat in the sun.

Branwell looked appauled, Whitelaw awkward, and Hightower amused.

"I- I apologise!" Alec stammered, while Izzy and Jace cackled. "I don't normally- we just-"

"It's quite all right, Alexander," Adrienne smiled, her greyish-blonde hair shiny and flat against her head. "We were young once, too."

The questioning went well despite the somewhat awkward start: Magnus quite rightly pointed out that no antique hare traps, rusty scissors or indeed pliers had been used- as suggested in his note- and the others confirmed his alibi, he'd been the Institute with them at the time of Raphael's death.

**(The moth's in my hair…aah…what do I do- okay it's gone.)**

"So why exactly did you send him this note?" Whitelaw asked curiously, greyish eyes oblivious to Alec's sudden discomfort at the question.

"Inquisitor," he cut in "It's nothing important, really. Nothing to do with the investigation."

"It could be, young man." Whitelaw replied "We have to look at all possible motives." Alec dropped his head in his hands as Magnus said, as casually as he could manage,

"Santiago, ah, slept with Alec." Magnus squeezed Alec's knee under the table, hoping he wouldn't notice the horrified stare of Richard Branwell. "We had a rather unpleasant disagreement a while ago, and he considered it revenge- not Alexander's fault, you understand, Santiago took advantage of him in a rather vulnerable situation."

He also explained to them how he suspected Camille and the Seelie Queen were the real murderers, but as Whitelaw told it, without any real evidence there was very little the Clave could do.

By this point, Magnus had grown so bored with the endless formality, he had started to drift off into his thoughts. The table was _extremely_ smooth, slippery even- he suspected Maryse may be even more particular about it than she was with her rugs- excellent for sliding down…or other activites. Smiling inwardly, Magnus conjured up a little note to appear in Alec's hand.

_Darling,  
As fascinating as this is, all I can seem to think about is how many ways I could fuck you across this table._

Alec let out a startled noise as he read, which he hastily masked as a cough, and dug a discreet elbow into the warlock's side. But he was still bored.

_Oh Alexander, don't be like that. You're thinking it too…or, you are now._

Damn, now Alec couldn't help it. He desperately tried to focus on what Whitelaw was saying.

_It's so slippery, one of us would have to hold the other down, most likely._

He tried to slap away the slender brown hand that was working its way up his thigh.

_When the Clave squad have gone of course. Otherwise it could get a little awkward._

Alec despised how Magnus could keep such a straight, ordinary face while sending those sorts of messages, the ones he was slipping into his pocket to store in his secret memory box.

_To start, I'll sit you up there with me still on the chair, like before. Slowly undo those jeans of yours, and give you a quick blowjob, just as an appetiser._

He delivered a swift under-the-table kick to Magnus' shin, the kind he, Izzy and Jace had spent years perfecting under the disapproving noses and sharp blue eyes of Robert and Maryse Lightwood. Still no reaction.

_Really darling, violence? Anyone would think you didn't want it. And that hurt, by the way! If there's a shoe-print on my suit I'll microwave you. _

"So, any questions?" Whitelaw's voice brought Magnus back to reality with a jolt. They were all looking at him expectantly.

"Yes I do have one question, actually, and it's for Alec."

By the Angel.

"Yesterday, you whipped a seraph blade out from under the couch- do you hide them around my apartment?" The Clave members looked baffled but hey, they'd caught him off guard, under pressure. He'd had to come up with something.

"Yes. Not just seraphs though, other weapons…there's a neat guisarme in the cupboard under your sink." Alec grinned despite himself.

"Why? And why haven't I noticed this?"

"Well, it's always good to be prepared, and you haven't noticed because you never clean- when was the last time you even opened that cupboard?" Magnus smoothed his hair in what was meant to be a dignified manner.

"I think…a few months ago, when David Bowie sent me that charming postcard, you remember? I keep all my letters and things in a big box in that cupboard."

"Well, if that's all, we'll be off. I'll be in contact if something else comes up." Whitelaw interrupted, seemingly not fazed that once again he hadn't been offered a cup of tea.

* * *

Magnus, Tessa thought wearily, where in God's name are you?

His apartment was deserted again. But a quick tracking spell told her he was in Manhattan…the Institute, to be specific. Tessa was bewildered- last time they'd seen each other, he'd told her he was done with Shadowhunters. Although she had heard rumours he'd struck up a serious attachment to one, a Lightwood apparently.

That couldn't be correct.

Tessa had never been one to believe the stuff of gossip, however, and surely Magnus would _never_ get involved with a Lightwood…

Oh gracious, she thought, not bothering to appreciate how pretty the oil-tainted puddle at her feet was, a thin, gloopy rainbow adorning the pavement, I am so tired of this world.

**There. Finally. Feel free to yell at me for any mistakes. (Textually, of course.)**

**Love China. XxXx**


	24. What, No Handcuffs?

**Hi there. This chapter is dedicated to anyone else who has read/watched the Prisoner of Azkaban after reading the Deathly Hallows and sobbed their heart out like it was the end of the world.**

**This contains spoilers- although not for the ending- of Artemis Fowl and The Last Guardian.**

**And Zaidkayson; everything's fine with the moth now, thanks for asking darling. :D**

* * *

**I don't own Mortal Instruments, Harry Potter or Artemis Fowl- if I did I would be in Alexander McQueen, shopping right now, not writing and hoping my laptop won't die because the electric's off. Happy times. XD**

Clary's rune shimmered at the back of her mind as though it was impatient to be used._ Try me out, try me __out,_ it urged, itching to be on her skin.

It probably wouldn't be a life changer to the Clave- not like _Alliance_, though Clary doubted anything would ever trump that, shame she'd peaked so soon really- but it could certainly be interesting.

She was pretty sure it enabled people to read minds, which, come to think about it, maybe _could_ be useful. She could find out Sebastian's plans, for example, or discover where Magnus had hidden Jace's favourite shoes.

As she and Simon walked arm in arm to the Institute, slightly more cautious than last time, she decided to test it. Immediately.

"Simon, have you ever wished you could see what other people are thinking?" He looked at her suspiciously, black-coffee eyes narrow and curious.

"Well of course, Fray, for instance I'd like to know what the hell was happening in the minds of the people who robbed Pluto of its' planetary status. They messed up the best mnemonic ever. Why?"

She untangled their elbows and fumbled in her jacket, closing her fingers around the stele that was always cold to the touch, like the walls of an old stone building, only infinitely smoother. Drawing it out, Clary licked it swiftly across the skin of her inner arm, wincing a little as it seared power into her veins.

"Because I made a new rune."

A little window, like a mini TV screen, had suddenly appeared above Simon's head- the picture cloudy and unfocused, wibbly monochrome like the end of an old video. Concentrating, Clary willed herself to see his thoughts.

"Uh, a mind reading one? Damn, that's cool. So what am I thinking?"

A book appeared on Simon's screen, with an orangey-gold dustjacket. The new Artemis Fowl book. And a voice, Simon's own, echoed in her mind, not unlike when the Silent Brothers spoke.

_I hope it all turns out okay- if Opal opens the second gate they're all toast. And then we'll never find out about Artemis and Holly, I always shipped them._

"You ship Artemis and Holly? But they're not even the same species!"

"Neither are humans and demons, but they make awesome babies." A picture flickered across the screen- of Magnus, turquoise sparks shimmering from his fingertips.

"True." Clary smiled. "Wait till you read the end, I cried!"

"First time Prisoner of Azkaban crying, or all out post-Deathly Hallows Prisoner of Azkaban crying?"

"First time. Maybe a little less, but it was still very dramatic. Hey, do you identify with Pettigrew now, now you know how it feels to be a rat?" Simon shoved her playfully, but she sensed from his memories, dulled now by amusement but still there, the terror he'd felt as a rat, huge shoes and mammoth flakes of glitter clear in his mind.

"No way. Hey…Luke is SO Remus!" Clary giggled, then frowned. "No. No he isn't. Dammit Simon, are you trying to make me cry?" She took his arm again, clomping up the Institute's stone steps. If Clary had been alone she would have just walked in, but in Simon's company they'd just ring the doorbell and then make their way around to the Sanctuary.

She reached for the bell, when suddenly the doors opened and three Clave members surged out, a fierce, dark-haired man knocking Simon slightly as they did so.

"Sor-" he stiffened in the middle of the apology. "Vampire?" he managed, before the Mark of Cain booted the man roughly down the steps. He got up; but groaned thickly, applying a quick iratze to stem the blood flow from a broken-looking nose.

"Are you all right, Mr Branwell?" Izzy called from inside, her tone strongly implying that she hoped his legs were broken too.

"Fine." He grunted, and all three of them were whisked away in a Silent City carriage.

"Hey, guys," Izzy grinned, a wicked glimmer in her dark eyes. "I'll go and open up the Sanctuary."

Clary perched on a sofa that covered up three deep, scorched parallel scratches in the floor, where something big and powerful had obviously tried to claw it's way out. Jace sat next to her, and though he gave her a quick hello kiss and made conversation, he didn't take his eyes off of Alec.

Alec, however, seemed to be avoiding his parabatai's gaze. He and Magnus had the air of people who had something else they needed to do- in fact they had only joined the gathering because of Clary and Simon's interest in how the murder investigation was going.

"Oh, you wouldn't believe what a bore it was," Magnus gushed, waving one slender hand, the other tangled in Alec's hair. "Without proper evidence they've got nothing on me or Camille, and there was quite an unpleasant moment where I told them Alec here had slept with the deceased. Other than that, nothing of interest at all. Now if you'll excuse us-"

"So they're just giving up?" Simon asked. "Love the poncho, by the way."

"Thank you, Seamus. And yes, they aren't looking into it anymore." His free hand toyed gently with Alec's wrist; both of them looked far away. "Come to think of it, this poncho is far too warm. I'm just going to change." He shot a look at Alec, before swirling out in a shimmer of black, white and gold.

Simon looked confused.

"But he changes clothes by clicking his fingers." Alec rolled his eyes.

I think it's time to reactivate the mind reading rune, Clary thought, discreetly tracing the existing mark with her stele.

Jace's screen had Alec in it, wearing pyjama bottoms and a tight black t-shirt that hugged the muscles of his biceps and chest nicely, black hair in rumpled disarray around his face. He would have looked very attractive, had he not been staring at Jace, horrified. That same expression played over and over again in Jace's mind, accompanied by the words _You were so distracted you nearly cut my throat!_

Clary quickly looked away, to Isabelle. She was fuming, her mind muttering curses against the dark haired man Simon's mark had knocked down the steps. Clary could see him, glaring disapprovingly at Alec, which certainly matched some of Izzy's threats. _Being rude to my brother…__if you weren't a senior Clave member I'd kick your sorry homophobic ass so hard your mum'll feel it… who's probably dead you decrepit glob of Ravener dung…_

A thought suddenly occurred to Clary, and she leaned over Jace- who didn't seem to care, his golden eyes drilling holes simultaneously into Alec's forehead and the empty demon cages, as though some invisible monster could at any time leap out and attack Alec.

She grabbed Simon's cool fingers, pressing them to the mark on her inner arm.

"Whoa!" he gasped, eyes wheeling wildly round the room. "It's like…" Clary shushed him, gaining a quizzical look from Isabelle. He looked at her. Then Jace. Then Izzy. "Tiny screens…" His eyes widened as they found Alec, and he let out an uncomfortable giggle, nudging Clary to look too.

In Alec's thoughts, a shirtless Magnus was flinging ornate candlesticks off of the long, polished table used for Clave meetings, slamming Alec face down on it's surface and shedding his stripy trousers.

Clary and Simon shared and incredulous look. "Whoa. That's, um, _large._ How-" she elbowed Simon in the ribs to stop him finishing the sentence, then yelped as an invisible force sent her tumbling off the sofa. Simon hastily took his hand off the rune, helping her up, while Izzy whined for someone to tell her what was going on.

Clary tried desperately to ignore Alec's thoughts, instead carrying on a conversation with Isabelle, but even when she wasn't looking she could _hear_: and despite how wrong it was –Alec and Magnus, for God's sake- she couldn't deny it was extremely hot, Alec moaning as Magnus held him down by the hair, licking wet stripes up his back.

"Excuse me, I have to, er, check on Magnus." Alec stood, and walked out, leaving Clary and Simon to dissolve in a fit of giggles.

"Seriously, what's funny, I just- am I missing something here?" Izzy tossed her hair in frustration.

"Well, Clary invented this new rune, it-"

"I need to see if Alec's okay!" Jace leapt to his feet, sending Simon spluttering again.

"Not just now, man." He choked, through his laughter. "You really don't. Trust me." Clary couldn't laugh any more, not with Jace like an Alec-obsessed zombie; it seemed to be getting worse every day. He sat down again, clutching Clary close as if for comfort.

"What is this mysterious rune?" Izzy whined. "I hate it when people have secret jokes, I feel like a peasant right now!"

"Okay, it's a mind reading rune." She explained. This sparked an interest even in Jace's eyes. "Simon and I just got a rather… intimate … scene from Alec's thoughts…but that doesn't matter now, look at Jace. He's not _right._ We need to fix this, Izzy, and quickly." She nodded thoughtfully, scrunching her nose. Simon couldn't look away.

"You're right." Simon patted Clary's hand supportively. "We know Camille wants to cause trouble for us, and we know the Seelie Queen's helping her, right."

"Right." Clary and Simon said in unison, sharing a surprised grin.

"But we don't know why."

"Well she wants something from Alec, that's why she's sending Jace the dreams, but that doesn't explain why she attacked Simon and I, or why she killed Raphael."

"Or why that faerie bitch is involved." Simon added. Izzy pondered, twirling the beaded fringe of a cushion idly in one pale hand.

"The Seelie Queen doesn't get involved in downworld business, especially not personally, if there's no obvious benefit to her. So either we have something she wants, or Camille does. Or both."

"We do have Magnus," Simon suggested. "Maybe she's hoping for a big reunion?"

"It can't be just that, for one thing Magnus would never do that, he has Alec and-" Izzy stopped, the colour slowly draining from her face, leaving it the colour of baby sick. "Clary, you said it 'was a taste of what is to come'. What was that dream? Jace, _what was that dream?"_

"She said Alec was being hurt, more with every second of being mortal…she said it was revenge… Jace, wasn't it something about blood?" Jace's face was whiter than Izzy's, his eyes startlingly gold and flat like new pound coins in a bowl of cream.

"She was turning Alec-" Izzy gasped, hands flying to her open mouth.

"Into a vampire?"

"Into a subjugate."

* * *

**(The song for this section is 'Keep Your Shoes' by the Scissor Sisters.)**

Magnus looked up from the long, flickering candles that adorned the table to meet Alec's eyes as he stalked in, long legs taking powerful strides so as not to waste time. Magnus licked his lips, and in one fluid move, swept the contents of the table to the floor, then sat calmly in a chair, inspecting his nails.

"Mags, have you ever heard of mixed messages?"

"I have, yes."

"Well, that's what you're giving me now."

Magnus just grinned, stretching out one impossibly long leg for Alec to admire.

"I'd _love_ to get down to it, darling, it's just I have these boots on that lace all the way up to my knee…" Alec slid to his knees, resting one of the platforms on his shoulder and glancing mischievously up at his boyfriend, fingers sneaking up his leg to unlace the boot.

"I'll take them off for you…but you're going to put them back on in a minute." He placed a gentle bite on Magnus' thigh.

"Mmm, something tells me this is going to be _fun_." He chuckled, unzipping his own trousers. "Alec, hurry up with the laces!" When he didn't a flick of the fingers ensured they came off immediately, and Alec's cool, slender fingers smoothed the skin over his hip bones, his trousers and underwear sliding to the floor.

Alec glared challengingly until he dutifully put his boots back on- by which point he didn't really see the point in clothing, and with a flutter of blue sparks, his shirt and all of Alec's clothing was gone.

"The next time my family eat around this table it's going to be _so _awkward."

"How can you even eat on it?" Magnus asked, sliding a hand over it easily. "Don't your elbows slide off?"

"No elbows on the table, Alexander!" Alec said, in a perfect imitation of Maryse. "Honestly, where do you think you are?" Magnus stroked the table again, this time with just one finger, staring at Alec so sensually he swore he felt the touch on his spine. "Mags, we can't do this here."

"Of course we can, silly Alec. Think about it in terms of science, okay? You live here, so the Alec-saturation levels are high, and therefore needed to be dispersed with Magnus-saturation levels, as the universe, like electrostatic charges, like to even out-"

"Mags. Mags, you lost me-"

"Wait, I'm explaining! And due to the high levels eventually certain areas _become_ saturated and therefore we will eventually run out of places to have sex, so in fact this is necessary to prevent-"

"Magnus, seriously-"

"So over the course of time, we will _inevitably_ have sex here, it's an inescapable fact of nature, and you can't fight nature. Face it Alec, the only logical thing we _can _do in this situation is have sex on the table." Alec tried to think about it, decided it wasn't worth it, and gave in. Which of course was Magnus' intention. He pulled the warlock in for a kiss. "What, no handcuffs? I'm a murder suspect, you know."

"There's some in that display cabinet, grab them if you want."

Magnus sneezed in shock. Alec?

**The reason this is ****up so early is because I have to stay in and babysit when I was supposed to be going out with this girl I know…yep, it's like my parents have a sixth sense for when I'm going to get laid so they can plan for those specific times. But I hope you enjoyed any****way.**

**REVIEW IF YOU KNOW THE TERM FOR THE LESBIAN EQUIVALENT OF COCKBLOCKING! I'd be interested to know and can't be bothered to google it.**

**And a question, do people listen to suggested songs as they read? Because I don't do that…do you actually, or does it just add a feel or whatever…let me know.**

**Love China xxXx**


	25. Glittery, But No Worse For Wear

**Hiya, sorry I took ages AGAIN, I'm such a busy man! (I know, I'm not a man, but in one's mind one can be whom they choose, and in my mind I am often David Bowie.)**

**Thank you **_**so much **_**for**** the reviews, they really are appreciated; I have to say that my favourite suggestion for lesbian cockblocking was 'pussy shielding', which made me laugh so hard I nearly imploded.**

**ONE MORE THING- This **_**was**_** going to be a lemon, I swear it was, but it just w****ouldn't come, no pun intended. (Who am I kidding, my puns are always intended and I bet you know it.) So this starts literally just after said lemon.**

"Mags, can you free my hands now?" Alec gestured with his cuffed wrists.

"Hmm," Magnus looked thoughtfully at him, as though it was a serious question that required consideration. "I suppose. Where's the key?"

Alec paled.

"There isn't one." He zipped up his jeans, awkwardly, and sighed. "They're for display, not for use. I knew that, but you- you distracted me! Now I'm stuck like this!" Magnus chuckled as Alec tried to pull on his shirt but failed, realising he couldn't make use of the arm holes.

"Alec, darling, I'm a warlock- I can unlock them whenever I desire."

"Brilliant," he said sarcastically, "They'll never come off," Magnus smirked. He, of course, was now fully dressed, with hair and makeup magicked to perfection; whereas Alec was a rumpled shirtless heap, stamina rune fading on his chest. Not his most dignified look. "But I can't put my shirt on!"

"Exactly."

"I can't take yours off, either." He added, widening his blue eyes to the point that normally made Magnus melt. It didn't work.

"Don't worry, I can just magic it off and pretend you did."

"Then I'll tell Jace, and he'll kick your ass."

"Like that Hollister wannabe has anything on me."

"My mother will turn you into a rug." The handcuffs clicked open. Magnus replaced them in their cabinet -a little glittery but otherwise no worse for wear- as Alec pulled on his shirt. He just hoped Alec wouldn't notice what was in the one next to it: a few days ago, he had stolen Jace's favourite pair of shoes and put them in the glass cabinet to see how long it took him to notice- so far, no-one had.

"I've never fancied being a rug. Rugs bore me. I never have any in my apartment unless there's a special reason- the Chairman always covers them in fur. Talking of which, fur coats are back in, and the bigger the shoulders the better, the Autumn/Winter collections are going to be spectacular-"

"Magnus, although I love that fashion gets you so excited, I've got something important I need to talk to you about-"

"Uh, the fur coat news _is _important. And the big shoulder news. What if you wanted to get me a surprise present, and you couldn't choose between something shoulder padded and something-"

Alec glared. He could hear Izzy's voice somewhere outside, a distant muffled muttering that made him snap out of postcoital mode and into big brother mode- he wanted to check that his siblings were okay.

"Come on, the others will be wondering where we are. Anyway, it's about Jace." As he told his boyfriend the basics of what had happened that morning, when he had discovered Jace watching him sleep, Magnus' face morphed from happy-sleepy to scary-calm.

"This has gone way too far. We all know Jace cares about you, but I will _not_ have _anyone _watching you sleep except _me_!"

He flounced from the room in a whirl of shimmering poncho, leaving Alec to wipe down the table before hurrying after him.

**Jace's song for this section- No Control by David Bowie**

Alec, as worried about Jace as he was –which was a lot, all he wanted for his parabatai was happiness- couldn't help but feel anger towards him. He hadn't told Magnus what Jace had said about immortality, but the remark had unsettled him more than he wanted to acknowledge. Though Jace had seemed to be in a daze lately, the honesty in his eyes when he'd said '_I want you to become immortal_' was brutal. How dare he say something like that when he knew it was a sensitive topic? And what gave him the right to sneak around Alec as though he was made of some fragile, delicate china? They both knew that wasn't the case.

The door to the Sanctuary was ajar, and raised voices spilled through it like orange juice through a sieve.

"What the hell do you think you're doing sneaking into Alec's room and watching him sleep? Are you some sort of pervert?"

Magnus' voice. Alec knew he still harboured some lingering seeds of jealousy, left over from when he had thought he loved Jace. No matter how much he tried to convince Magnus otherwise, he'd always be more touchy of him than other people when it came to the question of Alec's affections.

"You probably are," Magnus continued, no longer yelling but in a teasing voice- though not his usual playful tone. "Tell me Jace, have you ever had sex with an inanimate object? Was it _'The Shadowhunter's Codex'_?"

Alec heard an astonished laugh, most likely Simon, and decided enough was enough. He stepped into the room, and placed a soothing hand on Magnus' elbow. Jace wasn't retaliating, not even looking at Magnus, his blank golden eyes were fixed on Alec as if looking away would cause him to disappear.

"Alec, I'm sorry-"

"You will be if it happens again," the warlock muttered darkly, his long fingers sparking as they ran through his hair, little slivers of magic burrowing into the silky blackness like turquoise fireflies disappearing into the night.

"Mags, calm down. Jace… how are you feeling?"

Jace looked disorientated, slightly separate from the rest of the world.

"Alec, I feel… God, I don't…what's happening to me? One day I'm fine, the next you're all I can think about and I don't even know why." To everyone's surprise, Magnus cut in before Alec could say anything, snaking a lean arm around Jace's shoulders.

"Sounds like we have things to discuss," he said. "When in that situation, I found shagging him helpful, but I doubt that's what you want to go for. And if you try I'll zap you into the next millennium. Come on, Wayland." He lead Jace away from the group, out of the room.

Isabelle shook her head sadly, dark hair jangling around her waist like upset windchimes. She hated to see Jace so…unlike himself. It had happened so quickly- just two days ago he'd been training and joking around with the rest of them- and no-one had been prepared for the sudden change.

"That was quite sweet," she said, eyes dark and unreadable "In a sad, strange way." She turned to her brother, clasping his elbow affectionately. "Don't you ever take for granted how much those two care about you," she gestured to the door Magnus and Jace had left out of. "They'd do anything for you, Alec. _Anything._ That kind of love isn't something you can toss aside." As she turned to Simon and Clary, leaving Alec looking thoughtful and distant, her fleeting seriousness was gone as quickly as it had come. The steely glint of determination blazed back into her eyes.

She was Isabelle Lightwood. She wouldn't crack or cower away from her problems- she wanted Jace back and wouldn't stop until it happened.

"Izzy, what's the plan?" Clary asked, echoing Simon's thoughts.

"We find Camille, we use the mind reading rune to find out her plans, and then we stop her. After that we can hand her over to the Clave, I'm sure they'll have something appropriately nasty in mind."

Clary nodded fiercely, and Simon's hand reached out to cover Izzy's. She jumped a little, out of shock more than anything else, glancing up to meet his eyes. They were the colour of black coffee, just as warm and full of concern. Like the way only Jace and Alec ever looked at her, yet somehow different- they were always concerned with each other, being parabatai, but Simon looked as though he only cared about her.

* * *

Magnus had led Jace to the main living room, the one in which he had shouted at him and Alec for besmirching his precious bedroom only days before. As much as he thought of Jace as an annoyance, Magnus had a secret respect for him- not that he'd ever admit it- for several reasons, the most important one being Alec.

They both cared for him in a way that went beyond usual human care: Jace as a parabatai as well as a brother, and Magnus with the binding, dangerous love of an immortal. Both would be prepared and glad to risk, even lose their lives for him. But neither could seem to bring themselves to reveal the extent of their feelings.

So, as he guided Jace to sink down onto the sofa, Magnus was determined to help the boy to the best of his ability.

"Jace," he said, gently, taking a seat next to him. "I know you care about Alec. You want to protect him, and that's fine- that's okay. But you're really overdoing it, to the point where it's more harm than good."

"I'd never hurt him, Magnus, I couldn't let anyone else-"

"I know. You feel like you can't lose him, like if you did the world would lose all meaning to you- like you would lose yours to the world, Jace I understand. I really do. But he isn't so breakable as you think."

Jace shook his head, pale and sickly, all his usual confidence utterly gone. He knew Magnus was talking sense, but it was like something in his mind disregarded it: _he _knew the truth. He was the one legally charged with Alec's protection. He… had no control anymore.

"He is. More than he understands. Camille wants to hurt him, and I can't let that happen!" Jace's voice sounded far away to his own ears. "You care about him too. _We_ can't let that happen."

"We will stop Camille, the Clave-"

"The Clave! What do they know? They'll punish her _when_ she turns him into her subjugate, not to prevent it. Before then she hasn't broken any laws, but we can do something, we can make Alec safe _and _happy. That's what I want for him."

Magnus' eyes narrowed, his whole demeanor changing from that of a listener to someone trying to over their helplessness with self-confidence.

"You mean make him immortal."

"Of course I do! Alec wants it for Raziel's sake, he thinks that you don't because you don't love him enough-" Jace's thoughts clouded. He tried to stand, but dropped like a felled tree, eyes unfocused and blank. A spark- a fluid, blood red one- curled around his ear, it slithered, unlike warlock sparks: The Seelie Queen's magic. Magnus rolled up his striped sleeves and grasped Jace's shoulders firmly, the boy whimpering beneath his hands. "Alec…_has _to go to her…he _has _to…or she won't stop. They won't stop they won't ever stop until they get what they want…" Jace's face contorted, his body convulsed. "Magnus I can't- "

The warlock set loose a stream of blue sparks, silently willing them to heal, to free Jace's mind, to flush out the unwelcome magic and replace it with his own.

**So what do you think will happen to Jace?**

**And Zoe, there was something in there for you- if you didn't spot it then 'damn you, curse you'!**

**Love China. xxx**


	26. Distract Alec At All Costs

**HUGE AN AHEAD! Hello again! There are many reasons why I've been gone so long, but don't worry it's because my life has been fantastic not awful. But it's Zoe's birthday weekend and she told me that it was simply evil to have left it with Jace collapsing like that, so I thought I'd remedy it.**

**Just one thing I'd like to say; THANK YOU so much to all of you who have been reading this since the beginning- this is my first fanfic and I'm so proud of the way it's grown thanks to you guys giving your feedback, you've been amazing. On a very sentimental note, when I think back to the start of this I was a stressed out 16 year old using writing as a break from exam revision, now it's nearly at the end and I'm almost 17 and in college and so happy with how everything's going, so thanks all of you, dw I'm working on something else for after this has finished. Much love.**

**If you read all of that, I couldn't adore you more.**

**OH! And I recommend you read this from the start if you have time, to prevent confusion.**

Izzy gazed at her brother. He lay, tucked into the sheets of an Infirmary bed, still and silent as folded laundry- nothing had changed since he had collapsed in Magnus' care. That was two days ago.

The early morning light had just started creeping through the windows, licking over Jace's face and hair, painting them a pretty matte gold; he looked like an ornamental statue, or Snow White waiting for true love's kiss.

Isabelle snorted. Stupid fairytales, giving people a false hope for the real world, a world where people didn't, couldn't come back from the dead no matter who wanted them to, or what they would give to make it so. She had watched her family fall apart, shattered by the death of Max; her father fled to Idris, burying his head in the sand of 'Clave matters', her mother- when she wasn't hovering about the Institute like a lonely ghost- in Idris too but concerned in _separate_ affairs, Alec spending less and less time at home, Jace occupied with Sebastian and Clary.

And now Jace had been targeted.

Magnus had assured them that Jace would be fine, that his mind was in recovery mode, but for how long until someone else tried to kill him? It was like the Universe had it in for the Lightwoods. Still, everyone was strangely chipper, as though if they were happy, nothing else bad could happen.

Simon was in the Sanctuary, and Alec and Magnus had gone to get fridge magnet letters at Magnus' insistence- Izzy suspected he was trying to keep Alec's mind off Jace- and she was feeling very lonely, despite Clary's company. Clary glanced at her, as though she had sensed the thought.

"Izzy, Jace will be fine. Magnus promised, and I don't know about you but I trust him, so relax, he'll be better in no time. Anyway, there's something I want to talk to you about."

"What?" The word sounded painfully harsh, but Clary's eyes were full of understanding.

"Simon." The girl gave an awkward smile when Izzy didn't answer immediately. "You know, skinny, brown hair, vampire, you got him turned into a rat-" Izzy smiled reflexively at that.

"That was an accident! I didn't force that faerie drink down his stupid throat-"

"Anyway." Clary smiled, glad to have the old Isabelle back. "You don't have to answer this, Iz, because I guess it's not my business really, but… how do you feel about him?"

"I…"

A sudden _crash_ of door hinges and the sound of giggling echoed through the building- Alec and Magnus were back. Izzy turned away from Clary, grateful for an excuse to avoid the question, and yelled a greeting down to them.

"He really likes you, Izzy," Clary whispered as they clambered down the stairs, leaving Jace. "And he doesn't deserve to get hurt." The implications of the whisper terrified Izzy so much that she pretended she hadn't heard.

Isabelle had hoped to have a serious Team Good meeting to plot against Camille, but Magnus' distract-Alec-from-Jace-at-any-cost tactics were indeed magnificent. Alec's blue eyes were light and crystalline, his cheeks flushed a delicate pink from chasing Magnus all the way down the street. Apparently he'd said he _really _fancied a flapjack, so Magnus had promptly conjured one up, taken a bite, and run away. Childish bastard.

"Hello, everyone." He chimed airily, sticking a flapjack-covered tongue out at Alec, who wrinkled his nose.

"Can we please decide what we're going to do about-" Izzy began, but Magnus had sensed her serious tone and decided to run away, dragging Alec with him. She shook her head in exasperation, rolling her eyes at Clary.

"Come on Iz, we can talk to Simon about Camille and The Queen. You know, sometimes his ideas aren't so bad." Isabelle grinned in spite of herself as they traipsed down to the Sanctuary, where a bored-looking Simon lay stretched across a couch like he'd been smeared there, tapping away at an old Game Boy Advance.

"Hey," he smiled but didn't look up "Not to blow my own trumpet, but I am the Mariokart grand master. Baby Peach can suck a cock."

"Isn't Baby Peach a _baby_ though? Ew." Clary replied, shoving his feet over to make space.

"So literal, Fray. I didn't mean an _actual_ cock, obviously. Merely that I'm about to overtake her- just did, in fact."

Izzy slapped them both on the knees, lost at 'Mariokart'. She wasn't one for idle chatter when there was revenge to be planned.

"By the Angel, you lot are infuriating! Have you forgotten about Jace? Alec? Camille and the Seelie Queen's plans? We barely know anything yet, what with you two chattering on about cocks and Magnus distracting Alec so that he can't think about Jace-"

"Oh, that's why he was so-"

"Yes!" She cut Clary off.

"That rat! Oh, no offence Simon!"

Izzy started to giggle, but the image of a laughing Jace tackled her mind like a rugby player. He would've chuckled lowly at that, she thought, with a cold but fond glint of amusement in his eyes.

* * *

Camille's letter had arrived just before sundown: a delicate, perfumed scrap of parchment with neat, curling letters poured fluidly across the surface.

Greetings, Miss Tostavin.  
I hear you are taking care of the Manhattan Clan after the death of Raphael Santiago, in which case my congratulations are in order. As I am sure you are aware, the Clan's true leader has been away for a while, not having abdicated her place, and I am that leader. We have things to discuss, so I would greatly appreciate you coming to my quarters in the old subway station as soon as the sun is down.  
Sincerely, Lady Camille Belcourt.

April Tostavin, Raphael's successor, was now in pieces- strewn across Camille's floor like chunks of raw meat.

**There. Done. This would've been longer but this is ancient and I needed to get it up for my own sanity! Please let me know what you think! Love China.**


	27. Rebirth and Mini Milks

**So this is for Zoe, who specifically demanded some more Tessa. Speaking of which, she and I are contemplating holiday destinations, possibly Vietnam, if anyone has any recommendations then PM me, I'd love to know.**

As another dull day melted into its dreary dark successor, Tessa Gray cracked.

She couldn't take it anymore, waiting around for Magnus who probably wouldn't help her even if she got the chance to ask.

He was actually in his apartment, for once, but alas as soon as she'd reached for the buzzer a recorded voice boomed "Leave the High Warlock in peace, oh puny ones. He is very tired- how can one possibly expect such a dazzling degree of fabulousness to be maintained without beauty sleep?"- although its boomishness was rather belittled by the tinny little speakers from which it emanated.

Tessa did the spell herself- paying no mind to the risks- on a random man who had been wandering around Brooklyn on her way back from Magnus' apartment, leaving his unconscious form outside the door for Magnus to deal with whenever he could be bothered.

She was done.

Tessa slumped onto a park bench as night insinuated its way into the evening; a metallic chill filled with air and a knife-like breeze curdled silvery air- even as rain pounded its moisture into her clothes and hair, she did not move. She could feel, for the first time in her life, the itch of mortality- felt in her bones, her skull, the backs of her heavy eyelids.

The man whose life Tessa had stolen wouldn't have lasted long, whispered her fading magic, a sudden, violent death would have been his- she didn't have long.

Weeks.

Less than she had hoped-

And suddenly that mortal worry was back- it swelled within her chest to fill the space around her heart- what if she didn't have enough time? To do everything she'd ever wanted to do before death when she hadn't known of her immortality, silly little things even.

Something changed in Tessa, then, with that flood of terror. She saw life's beauty again- wanted to suck the marrow out of it in the short time she had left, wanted to taste snow and dance in a crowd and stroke the yellowing pages of a dusty old book.

Tessa Gray was reborn.

* * *

**Earlier that day**

Izzy wandered into the kitchen, away from the Sanctuary where Simon, Clary, Alec and Magnus were discussing plans. Although it had been her idea, she couldn't concentrate, thinking about what Clary had said, about Simon…'really liking' her…

She didn't know what to think.

Turning on the light, her gaze was drawn to the neon letters on the fridge- both the colours and content literally assaulted her eyes. Izzy made a noise like a giggle crossed with a groan- because it was funny, but Magnus probably wasn't kidding when he wrote it.

Admittedly, it broke her out of her melancholy Simon, Jace, Simon thoughts.

Grabbing some mini-milks from the freezer, she sauntered back into the Sanctuary, handing them out, smirking at Alec.

"What?" he asked.

"What?" she repeated, blinking innocently.

"You walked in, looked at me, and smirked, which made me suspicious…" he took the wrapper off his mini milk, and his look of suspicion intensified as Magnus chuckled.

"Nothing, I just remembered that you wanted a flapjack earlier, so Magnus ate one… or was it _h__alf _of one?" she said breezily, high-fiving a giggling Magnus.

"What's going on?" Simon asked.

"There's just a message on the fridge. About Alec." Alec glared out from under a lock of black hair. "It says 'Alec Lightwood will shag you silly for half a flapjack'."

The room burst into laughter, with the exception of Alec, who swatted his boyfriend about the head, scowling.

It was good for them all to have a laugh again, Izzy thought, what with Jace still unconscious, and still no definite plan of action involving Camille and the Seelie Queen. Unfortunately, once again the funniness revolved around Alec's sex life, but oh well, you can't have everything. Alec didn't seem to be helping himself though- in his daydreamy state he was practically deep throating his lolly.

"Jeez, Alec!" Simon commented. "How can you just shove it down your throat like that?" Alec jumped, as though he hadn't been paying attention.

"Lots of practice." Magnus winked, pulling the Shadowhunter from the chair into his lap. Alec tried for a witty retort but spluttered. "Oh, now you choke!" Magnus grinned, as Alec spat a mouthful of gloopy white lolly into a hastily conjured silk handkerchief. This only caused Magnus and Simon to laugh more, to his fury, and a blush spread itself over his face like marmite on hot toast.

"Guys!" Clary cut in, her voice weary as though she wasn't in the mood. "Shut up. I can hear something!"

They all froze. Alec's own heartbeat drummed in his ears -twinned with Magnus' as he had his head pressed against the warlock's chest- but he could still hear it. Footsteps, coming closer and closer.

All of a sudden, a tingling sensation tickled just under his collar bone, a similar feeling to the one he got while reading a really brilliant book and just knowing that something good was about to happen.

Isabelle drew a blade.

Magnus' fingers squeezed his knee.

The door opened.

There, standing illuminated in the doorway, was Jace, in all his pale gold glory. Sure he looked a little worse for wear, but he was definitely a sight for sore eyes.

"Jace!" Clary and Izzy cried in unison, leaping up to smother him in hugs and locks of red and black hair that licked over his skin like flames as he hugged them firmly back. Simon nodded, and Magnus was studying his glittery green fingernails, yet the faint whisper of a smirk echoed around his lips.

Before Alec could say Quidditch, Jace was in front of him, molten-gold eyes tinged with both happiness and worry. Gold met blue, and, being men, they didn't vocalise their thoughts, yet both boys understood.

_Alec, I'm so sorry, please forgive me._

_There's nothing to forgive._

_I love you, man._

_You too._

With an awkward grin, Alec and Jace leaned forward to grip each other in a brief embrace that said it all.

**Jace is back, yay! I kind of missed him, although he isn't my favourite character I still love him. **

**Don't know about you guys, but I ADORED him in the first three books, then he got progressively more whiney and annoying. Sure he has a lot on his plate, but bitch please! Get over yourself!**

**And Tessa. That wasn't actually in my plan, but... I couldn't help myself!**

**Love, China. xxxx**


	28. Regrettably Ugly Vases

**Hello darlings! Basically, The Clave thinks there's something strange about all the murdering, so they're still investigating the Manhattan Clan.**

Camille flung a gnawed-on finger into the corner of the room. It landed with a squelchy thud, gobbets of blood spattering across her new rug.

"Damn those Shadowhunters! Damn them!" she shrieked, fangs extended and glinting in the dim, vicious light. "How dare they interfere with my clan!"

The Seelie Queen's face was a mishmash of concern and boredom.

"Camille, this must cease. They _will_ pay- that Jace child has surely broken by now, and soon Alexander will be yours. You will have what you wanted. As for the clan, the Clave, they have to investigate if they think these murders suspicious, but you can tell them it was you and they can't do anything. Downworld politics, nothing more."

Camille bit savagely into another finger, running her teeth along its length, stripping flesh from twiggy bone.

"I know that. But what makes them think they have the power to interfere? I killed April because I had to; they are responsible for that death, not I!" She swallowed the raw meat, licking at a trickle of blood on her lip which the faerie had been eyeing hungrily. "Uppity Shadowhunters… I shall take the Clan as soon as possible. My poor babies will be lost without their leader."

The vampire splintered the bone in her chalky white hands, sucking greedily on its marrow innards. The smell made her faerie companion slightly nauseous, and she cast the woman a chilly look. Her infatuation, that had sprung up so suddenly like a crackling flame, was beginning to die down the more she saw of the animalistic brutality under Camille's cool, composed shell. Cruelty, yes, she adored, but bone-crunching flesh-guzzling gracelessness, no. The comparison of the vampires to 'babies' sounded so crude and clichéd… she just wanted to return to the court and grace her fellow fey with her presence.

"Camille, I must go. But," the rare, mournful flash in the vampire's eyes reminded the Queen of the attachment they had, and she felt her heart soften a little, the unfamiliar waves of affection returning. She placed her hand in the vampire's scarlet-streaked hair, yanking her in for a kiss. "Do not fret. It is for nothing. You shall be happy again."

The faerie left with a strange feeling in her mouth, as though it was confused at the fond words that had dribbled from its lips.

Camille just stared after her retreating form, drinking in the fluid sway of the slim body, wreathed in ropes of hair that twirled like whispers of gossip in the dank air.

"I shall…" the vampire whispered into the gloom. "I shall be happy. I shall have the Clan, I shall have revenge on the Shadowhunters, I shall have a new subjugate, I shall have Magnus Bane- merely for his magic- and I shall have you, my Queen."

The faerie woman hadn't heard.

She wasn't meant to.

* * *

Magnus gradually became aware that he was dreaming, and thanked whatever had caused his awareness, for the dream wasn't a pleasant one.

It was horrible.

Tessa Gray was standing in a bare, dimly lit room, blank-faced as blood surged from her wrists and into two large vases.

Ugly ones.

Creamy white, and banded with twirl gold patterns that shone tackily. _Who on earth would use those hideous things in a ritual?_ Magnus' inner voice sneered, confirming the dream as such. _Certainly not Tessa, this simply can't be real! Although in that case, my mind has imagined some horrible vases. I must have a chat with it when I wake up._

However, the imagining took a darker turn, distracting the warlock from his thoughts. Tessa, her pretty face expressionless and vacant, like a fogged-up window, yanked her gnarled, spell-casting fingers into the lush hair of his boyfriend.

His boyfriend, who struggled as she yanked back his strong white throat, dunking his head back until it was submerged in the blood.

"No," Magnus moaned as Alec writhed in her grip, spluttering as thick, blackish-red liquid forced itself into his lungs. "Alec-!"

His eyes flew open, and he found himself in his room. In bed. Alone.

He missed Alec already.

And, to top it all off, some idiot was buzzing on the door. As if the High Warlock was fit to entertain at… Magnus glanced at the alarm clock on Alec's side of the bed- 11am!

"Mags! Mags, let me in, it's Alec!"

He scurried to the door, not worried that he was wearing only what he'd fallen asleep in- orange boxers and a lone, torn fishnet knee sock.

"Alexander, what in the name of Freddie Mercury are you doing out there so early?" Magnus yelled, flinging it open to reveal his cold, dishevelled but strangely chipper boyfriend. " Where's your key? Aren't they the clothes you wore yesterday?"

"I just sort of came here, I guess, I didn't bring anything with me." The Shadowhunter gave a rare, electric grin. "And yes, they are yesterday's clothes. Let me in so I can take them off."

Lightwoods. Always so direct.

**Fancy a lemon? If you do, I'll get started now. xx**


End file.
